A few years ago we could not even think of developing women’s wrestling in Armenia. Despite the availability of all prerequisites and relevant conditions, there was a lack of determined and strong girls who would stand ready to become pioneers.
Armenian male wrestlers have won various cups in this sport and now it’s the turn of Armenian girls who are in a fighting mood and are ready to make strides in various sports tournaments.
Women’s wrestling started in Artimet
The first women’s wrestling group was formed in Armenia in September 2014 and surprisingly, not in Yerevan, but in Artimet village in Armavir region. The initiative belonged to Coach Gor Abgaryan.
“Nobody is better than us. We have girls engaged in weightlifting, boxing and judo, so why leave out wrestling from that list?” said the coach.
Photo: Mediamax
Artimet branch of Children and Youth Olympic School acted as an initiator in this regard and the first female wrestling group was set up. Today the number of female wrestlers in the group reaches eight. Mediamax Sport has had a chance to meet three of them and follow their training.
The bold girls: life with wrestling
These girls do not differ from their peers but at this young age they already know what they want from this life and which of their goals require assiduous efforts.
12-year-old Ani Arakelyan recently took part in an international tournament in France and gained a victory.
Photo: Mediamax
“Although the tournament in France was my first one, everything proved to be very easy for me. I loved taking part in the tournament and even more I loved winning,” admitted Ani.
According to Gor Abgaryan, Ani is indeed very prospective, trains with great dedication and spends hours in the hall. “I send her home to have a rest. She wakes up at 6.30 in the morning and runs. She trains better than many boys. She has promised her dance instructor to become a World champion. She is a very strong-willed girl.”
Lilit Petrosyan and Catherine Sedrakyan have been attending wrestling trainings since September. They fell in love with wrestling after their first training and decided to dedicate their lives to it.
Lilit’s family easily agreed on her decision to engage in sport. “Everything was very dear since the very beginning and I felt very good in the hall,” she said.
Photo: Mediamax
Catherine learned about the wrestling trainings at school and went to the sports hall without a second thought. “Everything in wrestling is very close to my heart. I want to win medals and most importantly, become an Olympic champion,” she said.
Training peculiarities and Olympic expectations
According to Gor Abgaryan, the fact the boldest girls are from Artimet is not by chance. He believes their village is highly sportive and everybody rejoices at and gets enthusiastic about the achievements of the rest.
Photo: Mediamax
The trainings are held four days a week. Coach Abgaryan said that training girls has its own peculiarities, however, neither their load, nor the length differs from the trainings of male freestyle wrestlers.
Abgaryan is convinced that the girls are very prospective and they expect them to win medals on the international scene. The women’s team is going to take part in a tournament in Russia in fall, but their principal goal is to participate in 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Argentina.
Hasmik Babayan, Gohar Nalbandian
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