Millions of people wonder how one actually becomes a star. Born in 1974 in the town of Masis (Armenia), naturalized wrestler Armen Nazaryan is one of the brightest stars in Bulgarian sport, giving everything to hear the Bulgarian anthem and see the Bulgarian flag at a tournament. Here is how the career of legendary wrestler in the Greco-Roman style Armen Nazaryan started. Today he is coach of the wrestlers in the Bulgarian national team.

“When I was just a little kid I was very boisterous and energetic. I was always wrestling at school and in the street and my mother told me that I should go in for a sport if I had so much energy.”

His elder brother was practicing wrestling and 8-year-old Armen started going together with him. “On the second day I was already trying various throws and techniques. My weight was 22 kilograms back then and there were just 3 or four other children in that category so I quickly became the best and later entered the 29-32 kg category. Although I was very lightweight I was better than a number of heavier boys. And that is how I started to love wrestling,” he says. Just a yearlater in 1983 he grabbed the gold medal at the town’s tournament. After winning his first gold Olympic medal in Atlanta in 1996, Nazaryan received an invitation from Bulgarian businessman Grisha Ganchev to join the team of Slavia-Litex.

“I came to Bulgaria and together with my Bulgarian team I came second at the Wrestling European Cup in Moscow, after the Russians. Then I decided to stay and wrestle for Bulgaria and vowed to win a lot of medals for this country,” Armen Nazaryan says.

A year later he was granted Bulgarian citizenship with a decree by the President. Here is what Armen Nazaryan told us about his successful career, accomplished with lots of hard work:

With the Olympic gold from Sydney

During the career of the legendary wrestler, who competed in the 52,58, and the 60–kg categories, he has won a great number of medals. He is two-time Olympic champion,three-time world champion, 6-time European champion and two-time winner of the highest Bulgarian wrestling prize - the Nikola Petrov Golden Belt. He keeps all his medals and trophies at home. They give his two sons – Edmond and Grisha motivation to follow into the footsteps of their father.

Armen hopes that one day they will add medals to the collection at home. His daughter Inessa prefers helping her mother Inga with the household work.

What kind of person is Armen, according to his friends and family?

“In order to be a good patriot, one first needs to be a good human being. I have a lot of friends and my family is the most important thing to me. My friends respect me and keep inviting me as an honorary guestto various tournaments. I hope my name will be always respected so much,” says in conclusion legendary Bulgarian wrestler of Armenian origin Armen Nazaryan.

English version: Alexander Markov