Date of birth: 19.01.1995, Kapan
Sport: Athletics (triple jump)
Nickname: “People at the training hall call me Power.”
Family: Single
Photo: Mediamax
Education: Levon will graduate from the Armenian State University of Economics this year. He plans to enroll in the Master’s Program in the Institute of Physical Culture.
Personal coach: Arsen Petrosyan
Start of career: “I was 10 years old, when my uncle took me to the Kapan stadium. I had been looking forward to that day, I really wanted to go out there and show the coaches what I could do.”
Photo: Mediamax
Choice of sport: “Coach Petrosyan wouldn’t let me do triple jump when I was a teen, because it’s so difficult. He told me I had to mature physically first to be able to jump well and compete in tournaments. However, as we all know, what you aren’t allowed to have is exactly what you want. Triple jump was my dream. I was so happy when I was finally able to go into it fully.”
Photo: Mediamax
International debut: “I was the best in long jump in the international athletics tournament in Istanbul in the summer of 2010. My coach told me later that he thought if I could do well in that tournament, I would become an athlete.”
Hard times for mental health: “I performed very badly for two years after the Rio Olympics and I couldn’t understand why. I was in a bad state mentally. I trained alone and tried to perfect my technique, and that work paid off – my results improve by 37 centimeters in the next tournament. I felt that I was on the right path.”
Photo: Mediamax
Exploring the inner self: “That is when I started exploring my inner self. Every day you challenge and struggle against yourself. Of course, you complete with other athletes, but your first competitor is you. When you demand more from yourself, you excel.”
Managing emotions: “There used to be so many distracting events, people or things in my life before, which I couldn’t remove. Now, I put everything aside and don’t let emotions reign, because I want to realize my dreams.”
Photo: Mediamax
Difficult road to Olympic Games: “The war followed the pandemic, we lost so much as a nation, and that weighed heavily on us all. As I went to the tournament, I realized my desire to win only increased because I wanted to represent better and honor our homeland and our martyred heroes. This is the biggest motivation for me, bigger even than my dreams.”
Photo: Mediamax
The second Games: “I am more cool-headed now, more experienced, than in the Rio Olympics. I train for the Tokyo Games as for a regular high-level tournament, because we all are doing the same thing.”
Photo: Mediamax
A multi-dimensional man: “I read books of various genres and they help me in life. Reading helps you advance. My favorite book is The Count of Monte Cristo. I read it for the first time when I was a teenager, and still it is the most impressive novel I have read.
I also love playing guitar. I learned to play on my own, and it was actually easier than learning triple jump. I’m just kidding!”
Photo: Mediamax
Armenia’s Olympic team: “I watch the performances of all our athletes. The team is smaller than the one we had in Rio, but what matters is the result it gets in Tokyo.”
Photo: Mediamax
Importance of victory: “Any victory is inspiring for our people. We have to do the utmost to win. This is very motivating mentally, and it will help us improve the quality of our work.”
Winner of 2013 Junior European Championship
Six-time champion of the Balkans
The 5th place in the 2021 European Championship
Gohar Nalbandyan
Photos: Emin Aristakesyan
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