Albert Azaryan

Who is Albert Azaryan?

Albert Azaryan is a former Soviet Armenian artistic gymnast who competed internationally representing the Soviet Union. He is the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Champion on the still rings. 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 variations of the Iron Cross called the Azaryan Cross, which incorporates a quarter turn to the side.

An artistic gymnastics tournament, the Albert Azaryan Cup, is named after Azaryan and hosted in Yerevan, Armenia.

Azaryan was voted the top Armenian athlete of the 20th century by journalists from the Armenian Sport Journalists Federation.