Armenian Greco-Roman style team won one gold and one silver medal at the Olympic Games. Olympic champion Artur Aleksanyan and his personal coach Gevorg Aleksanyan summarized today in Yerevan the results of Rio-2016.
Olympic champion Artur Aleksanyan: I am proud to be Armenia’s 14th champion, proud to have won the gold for our country after a 20-year interval. When people congratulate me in the streets, I feel how happy they are for my success. I consider this my greatest victory. This is just the beginning, and I will strive to win more medals in European, World championships and Olympic Games.
I wore t-shirt with Robert Abajyan’s photo at the award ceremony in Rio. I wanted the whole world to see our hero. While I was passing the people who greeted us at Zvartnots Airport, a man kissed me and said he was Robert’s father. That moment made me very emotional. There were so many people there that I didn’t manage to speak with him, but I will definitely get to know him better.
Coach Gevorg Aleksanyan: We are grateful to Armenian nation for sharing our happiness, standing by us and treating us with such warmth. Artur has been working for this gold medal for many years. He was still young at London Olympics and was satisfied with bronze. We worked hard for four years, and the whole team felt that Artur was ready to become an Olympic champion. He performed with confidence throughout the Olympics, defeated all the competitors and finally achieved his goal.
They also talked about the conditions at Gyumri Sport School, where Artur Aleksanyan trains. Naturally, no one is happy with terrible conditions, but they don’t really have another option.
Gevorg Aleksanyan: I am the head of the school. I have been applying to responsible persons since 2008, and I received the answer that the school will be renovated once there is funding. Artur became World champion in 2014, and talks started that something might change. The same took place in 2015, when Artur won World championship again. It’s 2016 now, Artur is an Olympic champion, and we’re waiting to see what will change. I am sure that the better conditions the school provides, the better results the athletes will have. Artur isn’t the only athlete training there, we have many talented children.
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