TOKYO, Japan (A.W.)—Armenian Olympic silver medalist Simon Martirosyan was crowned the World Junior Weightlifting Champion (+105 kg Men) after winning gold at the 2017 World Junior Weightlifting Championships held in Tokyo, Japan.
Martirosyan lifted 191 kg in the snatch and 235 kg in the clean and jerk in the +105 kg weight category on June 23 to be crowned world champion.
Born on Feb. 17, 1997 in Haykashen, Martirosyan is the current youth world record holder for the snatch, the clean and jerk, and total in the +94 kg division.
The Armenian athlete won a gold medal at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, a bronze medal in 2016 European Weightlifting Championships, and became Armenia’s first medal winner at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after winning a silver in men’s 105 kg weightlifting on Aug. 15, 2016. Martirosyan lifted a total of 417 kg, and placed second only to Ruslan Nurudinov of Uzbekistan, who set an Olympic record with a total weight of 431 kg.
Two other Armenian athletes—Sona Poghosyan (70 kg) and Samvel Gasparyan (105 kg)—won bronze medals at the 2017 World Junior Weightlifting Championships.
