Varteres Samurgashev
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Greco-Roman wrestling | ||
Competitor for  Russia
| ||
| Olympic Games | ||
| Gold | 2000 Sydney | 63 kg |
| Bronze | 2004 Athens | 74 kg |
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | 2002 Moscow | 74 kg |
| Gold | 2005 Budapest | 74 kg |
| European Championships | ||
| Gold | 2000 Moscow | 63 kg |
| Silver | 2002 Seinaejoki | 74 kg |
| Gold | 2006 Moscow | 74 kg |
| World Cup | ||
| Silver | 2005 Tehran | 74 kg |
| Silver | 2006 Budapest | 74 kg |
Varteres Varteresovich Samurgashev (Armenian: Վարդերես Սամուրղաշև, Russian: Вартерес Вартересович Самургашев, born September 13, 1979 in Rostov-on-Don, Russian SSR) is an Armenian-Russian Greco-Roman wrestler. He is a two-time European, two-time World and Olympic Champion. Samurgashev was awarded the Honoured Master of Sports of Russia title. He is a lawyer by profession and the President of the Wrestling Federation in the Rostov region. Samurgashev is an honorary citizen of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia.
Career
Varteres won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney at the age of 20. He also won a gold medal at the 2000 European Wrestling Championships earlier that year. Samurgashev won a gold medal at the 2002 World Wrestling Championships.
Samurgashev won a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The following year, he won his second World Championship gold medal at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships and, the following year after that, won his second European Championship gold medal at the 2006 European Wrestling Championships.
He came in seventh place at the 2008 Summer Olympics following a controversial defeat in the quarterfinals.
In December 2008, Samurgashev won the Sports Arbitration Court case in Lausanne against the vice-president of FILA Mario Saletniga, who unlawfully intervened in the quarterfinal match between Samurgashev and Hungarian Péter Bácsi at the Olympic Games in Beijing, which resulted in Samurgashev losing to Bácsi.[1][2]
In September 2012, he announced the completion of his athletic career.[3]
Personal life
Varteres has an older brother, Rafael Samurgashev (born 1963), who was a member of the Armenian national Greco-Roman wrestling team at the 2000 Summer Olympics and is now the vice president of the Russian Wrestling Federation. Varteres got married in 2009. He has three children: Albert (born 2009) and twins Simon and Suren (born 2011). He also has niece named Tatiana Samurgashev, who plays tennis at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.[4]
On July 10, 2004, a monument of Samurgashev was erected on the Rostov-on-Don square of Karl Marx in the Nakhichevan-on-Don district of the city. The statue was sculpted by David Begalov. An inscription reads, "Varteres Samurgashev — Don deserved first Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling."[4]
Samurgashev obtained Armenian citizenship and became a dual citizen on December 27, 2012 by decree of President Serzh Sargsyan. Varteres stated receiving Armenian citizenship was one of his most memorable experiences. “I was born and raised in Rostov-on-Don, but I am Armenian, and that says it all,” he said.[5]
References
- ↑ Почему борец Самургашев вылетел с Олимпиады? (in Russian). www.kp.ru. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ↑ Самургашев одержал победу в спортивном арбитражном суде Лозанны (in Russian). www.sovsport.ru. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ↑ Олимпийский чемпион борец Самургашев объявил об уходе из спорта (in Russian). rsport.ru. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Monument to the grappler". memorysensory.com. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
- ↑ "Olympic champion receives Armenian citizenship". sport.news.am. Retrieved 29 December 2012.