August 16, 2016 will go down as an historic day in Armenian Olympic history, regardless of the results later today.

To put things into perspective, Armenia has participated in 5 Summer Olympic games since independence and has won 1 gold total (Armen Nazaryan in Atlanta 1996) - that total can be DOUBLED in one hour later today! Either way we're all so proud of our boys!!

Let's go Artur Aleksanyan and Migran Arutyunyan!!

Hye Marzig was launched 4 years ago on the eve of the London 2012 Olympics, and we're still going strong on the eve of Rio 2016!

Here is everything you need to know if you're keeping track of our Armenian Olympians the next couple of weeks.

Rio 2016's Official Website has shared the following link for Armenia and its athletes:

Rio 2016 Team Armenia Link

Wikipedia even has a page up showing who will be competing in which sport:

Wiki Team Armenia Link

One of our best shots at a medal is of course Arsen Julfalakyan, the former world gold medalist and Olympic silver medalist. He'll be competing in the 75kg class, which kicks off on August 13th. Here's some recent footage of Arsen going toe-to-toe with Vlasov of Russia, with Arsen winning the Silver:

Artur Aleksanyan of Gyumri is another world class wrestler to keep your eye out for:

Finally, as reported a few weeks ago, Armenia will also have gymnasts this year!

Good luck to all of our Armenian Olympians the next couple of weeks, we are all so proud of them! Keep a look out for more updates shortly!

Sochi 2014: Arman Serebrakian 42nd in Giant Slalom

As the rest of the U.S. rightfully watches Ted Ligety dominate the Men's Giant Slalom, WASB had its eyes trained on Arman Serebrakian around 1:00 a.m. Western United States time!

Due to intense IOC restrictions, WASB cannot upload a video of Arman's first run, which saw him finish 54th of 109 skiers. In his second run, he improved his time by about 3 seconds to finish 42nd overall. Again, even though WASB's video cannot be uploaded, it must have been an amazing feeling when Arman crossed the finish line to cheers from a strong Armenian contingency in Sochi, leading the BBC announcer to exclaim, "He's getting warmly welcomed in the foot of the course!"

Congratulations to Arman, he represented Armenia with utmost pride!

Armenian Olympic Medalists Welcomed Home

Armenia's three Olympic medalists arrived in Yerevan on August 14, 2012, to overwhelming support by local fans. It is especially rewarding to see the appreciation being shown Armenia's first female medalist ever, Hripsime Khurshudyan, for her history-making performance.

Although the below VIDEO is in Armenian, the love, excitement, and jubilation needs no translation. Please click on the link and press play directly on the embedded VIDEO.

CLICK HERE:
Olympian Arrival Video

Artur Aleksanyan Wins Armenia's Second Bronze

Artur Aleksanyan (Greco Roman wrestling 66kg) has just won Armenia's third medal at the 2012 London Olympics, a bronze! The young 20 year old beat Turkey's Ildem in the quarterfinals to earn a Bronze medal match against Cuba's Estrada. With a flip in the first round, and a push-out in the second, Aleksanyan soared to a resounding victory! We congratulate Aleksanyan and all of Team Armenia!

Here is some VIDEO of our newest hero in previous action:

BREAKING NEWS: ARSEN JULFALAKYAN WINS SILVER

Arsen Julfalakyan (men's Greco Roman wrestling 74kg) has just won Armenia's second silver medal ever!

Here is a link about Arsen:

Arsen Julfalakyan

And here is some VIDEO of him in previous action:

BREAKING NEWS: Hripsime Khurshudyan Wins Armenia's First Medal

Hripsime Khurshudyan (Women's 75+ kg Weightlifting) has just medaled for Armenia! With a lift of 128 kg in the snatch, and 166 kg (total 294) in the clean and jerk, Hripsime won a bronze for Armenia! Congratulations, we are all thrilled for you, and thank you for representing us with pride!!!

NBC: Nothing But Crappy Olympic Coverage

     Armenia gets very few chances at shining under the international limelight. This is why many of us anxiously, patiently wait every other year for the Summer and Winter Olympics for that special moment when Armenia is introduced for the world to see. Normally, this proud moment is a goose bump-filled, tears-of-joy moment of pride.

     This year's incompetent coverage by NBC has left us all wanting something more, however. After introducing Armenia, NBC's inept announcer (Bob Costas) simply said "Armenia..." ... and paused. Now I do know they did very brief recaps of countries they had missed during commercial breaks, and I did hear him whine that they have never seen the countries introduced so quickly. But, honestly, are you kidding!?! This is what contingency plans are for! From General Electric (NBC's parent company), to Jeff Zucker, all the way down to this useless announcer, everyone has to be held accountable. You mean to tell me not one of them planned a word or two for each country in the four years they have had (not to mention endless millions of dollars) getting ready for the Olympics? Shame on you NBC!

     For anyone who may believe I am over-reacting, then surely the newly-formed Facebook page "NBC Sucks" and its 5,931 members justifies my reaction. In the mean time, Bob Costas, you fool, why don't you read this link and educate yourself...

Armenia 

Diasporan Armenian Olympians

The countdown is on, the tension is rising! We are just a few hours away from the Opening Ceremonies, and our athletes have just touched down in London. As we continue to highlight Diasporan Armenians competing under various flags of the world, here is an updated list to keep on your radars!

Misha Aloian (Russia/Boxing) (pictured below);
Gabriel Melconian Alvez (Uruguay/Swimming);
David Ayrapetyan (Russia/Boxing);
Artur Ayvazyan (Ukraine/Shooting);
Arsen Galstyan (Russia/Judo);
Vazgen Safaryants (Belarus/Boxing);



All contributions we missed are welcome - please post them as comments, below!

Profiling Our Olympians

PanArmenian.net just put up this amazing photo spread introducing our Olympians:

Olympian Pictures

Team Armenia Olympic Uniforms

Just browsed the web for updates on our Olympians, with the opening ceremony just 5 days away. Low-and-behold, here is what our heroes' threads will look like. Anyone confused? What is this, team Poland? Did they forget the blue and orange? Or am I just  over-reacting? Thoughts, anyone?

Anyways, check out this article:

Armenian Olympic Uniforms

Rising Soccer Star: Joaquin Boghossian

Heard about Joaquin Boghossian from Uruguay some time back (thanks to my brother) - hopefully he'll be on the world stage in Brazil if Uruguay qualifies in 2014!

Player Profile: Joaquin Boghossian

Armenian 2012 Olympians

 

What better way to start my blog, than to honor our 25 athletes who will be representing us in London.

Here is the link that just went public on www.london2012.com.

Enjoy, and good luck to our heroes!http://www.london2012.com/athletes/country=armenia/index.htmx

Unfortunately, one of our female gold medal hopefuls has just torn her ACL.