11/02/2014 12:25
Legendary artistic gymnast Albert Azarian turns 85 today
The legendary Armenian artistic gymnast, winner of European and world championships, 1956 and 1960 Olympic Champion Albert Azarian has turned 85 today.
Albert Azarian was born on February 11, 1929 in Ganja.
Azaryan is the first ever gymnast to become an Olympic Champion in Rings twice, a feat that Akinori Nakayama would accomplish twelve years later and that no one else has matched ever since.
He is the first person to do one of the rings most famous exercises called the Azaryan Cross (or Iron Cross; Crucifix) in an international competition.
An artistic gymnastics tournament, the Albert Azaryan Cup, is named after Azaryan and hosted in Yerevan.
Azaryan was voted the top Armenian athlete of the 20th century by journalists from the Armenian Sport Journalists Federation.