Armenia’s weightlifting team aged 15 and 17 won 6 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze medal at the European Championships in Sweden. It is for the third time since the championship is held in the ancient continent in this age group and the achievements of our athletes have no precedent. “Aravot” talked to Vice Chairman of Weightlifting Federation of Armenia, Vahan Khechanyan.
– Prior to leaving for the championship, did you expect such a result?
– It was not unexpected. We knew that we are going to show high results since the Federation had organized perfect training sessions and all of them were in good shape. Moreover, we had athletes who were also ready to fight for the gold medal. But for various reasons, it did not work out. For example, Grigor Grigoryan (94 kg), who was injured was also a contender for the gold medal and was to compete with the winning Sargis Kirakosyan.
– To the point, was Grigor’s injury serious?
– Injuries happen in all kinds of sports. To the point, weightlifting takes one of the last places in the list of sports in this regard. Grigor injured his left elbow. He, as the procedure requires in such cases, was taken to the hospital for examination and received a quality treatment. Here, I want to mention Sargis Kirakosyan’s volitional qualities. He managed to stay in the fight and won for him and Grigor.
– Was the counting of medals made?
– Definitely. All our weightlifters won 29 medals in individual drills and clean and jerk combination. By the count of medals, Armenia’s boys’ team aged 17 years won the 1st place, while in the team, not with full staff – the 3rd place.
– The winners and prize-winners only by the results of clean and jerk combination were awarded in Sweden.
– Yes. The reason was that the organizers did not manage to prepare the so-called small medals. They told us and the other delegations that they will send them later.
– And do you see participants among these weightlifters to the 2020 Olympic Games?
– They are still very young and there is still plenty of time. But the fact that there is a rising generation, that is for sure. Indeed, the Federation voices a hope for the future with them. But both the kids and the coaches should work hard. On our side, we will do everything possible. For example, starting from the next month, the Federation will assign respective monthly emoluments for the young weightlifters by their results for one year until the next competition to encourage them to continue the trainings and strive for more. And at the end of the year, they will be encouraged when summing up the competition season.
– European Youth Championships will be held in a month. Should we expect such a success here too?
– The primary objective of the Federation is the World Cup of the adults, where both men’s and women’s teams have very serious problems to resolve. These two teams have few young people in the staff. Hence, they will not take part in the European Championships. But the Federation will still decide on how many of us will participate in the European Championship and who will attend.
Ashot HAKOBYAN
