Sanasar Oganisyan

Sanasar Oganisyan (Armenian: Սանասար Հովհաննիսյան, born 5 February 1960) is a former Soviet Armenian Freestyle wrestler and Olympic, World and European Champion. He became an Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1980.

Sanasar Oganisyan

Personal information
Born	5 February 1960 Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	90 kg (198 lb)
Sport
Sport	Wrestling
Event(s)	Freestyle
Club	Spartak Moscow
Medal record Men's Freestyle Wrestling Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1980 Moscow 90 kg World Championships 1981 Skopje 90 kg European Championships 1986 Piraeus 90 kg World Cup 1981 Toledo 90 kg 1986 Toledo 100 kg

Early life

Oganisyan was born on February 5, 1960 in Moscow, Russian SFSR. He graduated from the Moscow Engineering and Construction Institute. As an espoir he became a European Champion in 1978 and as a junior a World Champion in 1979. Oganisyan played for the Spartak Moscow wrestling club.

Career

At the age of 20, Oganisyan was selected by the Soviet Olympic team to compete at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Oganisyan won an Olympic gold medal. He became the first Armenian freestyle wrestler and the second Armenian wrestler to become an Olympic Champion.

Oganisyan won a gold medal at the 1981 World Wrestling Championships and 1981 Wrestling World Cup the following year. However, he also received a serious back injury in 1982 and had to take some time off. It took almost two years for Oganisyan is recover, after which he qualified for the 1984 Soviet Olympic team but missed the Olympics due to the Soviet boycott. Instead he competed in wrestling at the Friendship Games and won gold as light-heavyweight, and later won the World Cup that year as well.

He won a gold medal at the 1986 European Wrestling Championships, but then re-injured his back and again missed several seasons. After recovering, Oganisyan made another comeback attempt, now as a heavyweight, but with less success, not qualifying for the 1988 Soviet Olympic team, although he did win silver at the 1989 World Cup. Oganisyan won his second USSR Championship in 1989 and retired after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Personal life

Sanasar's younger brother is Gor Chahal, a famous artist.[1]

References

1. Гор Чахал: «Искусству от Христианства не уйти» (in Russian). www.yerkramas.org. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013.

External links

• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sanasar Oganisyan". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.