Yurik Vardanyan

Yuri Vardanyan

Vardanyan at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow
Personal information
Nationality	Armenian
Born	(1956-06-13)13 June 1956 Leninakan, Soviet Union (now Gyumri, Armenia)
Died	1 November 2018(2018-11-01) (aged 62) United States
Sport
Country	Soviet Union
Sport	Olympic weightlifting
Turned pro	1977
Retired	1985
Medal record Olympic Games 1980 Moscow -82.5 kg World Championships 1977 Stuttgart -75 kg 1978 Gettysburg -82.5 kg 1979 Thessaloniki -82.5 kg 1980 Moscow -82.5 kg 1981 Lille -82.5 kg 1982 Ljubljana -90 kg 1983 Moscow -82.5 kg 1985 Södertälje -82.5 kg European Championships 1977 Stuttgart -75 kg 1978 Havířov -82.5 kg 1980 Belgrade -82.5 kg 1981 Lille -82.5 kg 1982 Liubliana -90 kg 1983 Moscow -82.5 kg 1984 Vitoria -82.5 kg USSR Weightlifting Championships 1977 Ratov Na Donu -75 kg 1979 Leningrad -82.5 kg 1981 Novosibirsk -90 kg 1982 Dnipropetrovsk -90 kg Summer Spartakiad of the USSR 1979 Leningrad -82.5 kg Cups of the USSR 1976 Sverdlovski -75 kg Snatch 1976 Sverdlovski -75 kg Clean and Jerk 1976 Sverdlovski -75 kg Total
Updated on 15 December 2012

Yuri Norayrovich Vardanyan (Russian: Юрий Норайрович Варданян; Armenian: Յուրի Վարդանյան, also transliterated Yurik Vardanian, 13 June 1956 – 1 November 2018) was a Soviet Armenian weightlifter.^[1][2] Vardanyan won a gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics, becoming the world's first weightlifter to achieve a 400 kilogram total in the 82.5 kg weight category. During his career he set several world records. He trained at Lokomotiv in Leninakan, Armenia. He earned the title Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1977 and was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1985. In 1994 he was elected a member of the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.^[3]

In 2009 Vardanyan became an advisor to President Serzh Sargsyan's and was appointed Minister of Sports in May 2013. In June, he was controversially appointed Armenia's ambassador to Georgia.