Yurik Vardanian
Encyclopedia
Yurik Vardanian is a former Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 weightlifter for the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. He trained at Lokomotiv
Lokomotiv (sports society)
Lokomotiv is the Russian sports club and a member of the International Railway Sports Association.Lokomotive traces its history to the All-Union Voluntary Sports Society of rail transport workers' Trade Unions, one of the first sports societies of workers of the USSR. Established in 1936, it...

 in Leninakan, Armenia.

Vardanian won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...

, becoming the world's first weightlifter to achieve a 400 kilogram total in the 82.5 kg weight category. During his career he set several world records.

He earned the title Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1977 and was awarded the Order of Lenin
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...

 in 1985. In 1994 he was elected member of the International Weightlifting Federation
International Weightlifting Federation
The International Weightlifting Federation , headquartered in Budapest, is the international governing body for the sport of Olympic weightlifting.The IWF was founded in 1905, and has 187 member nations. The IWF president is Dr...

 Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...

. Since 1991 Vardanian lives in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Weightlifting achievements

  • Senior world champion (1977–79, 1981, 1983, and 1985);
  • Silver medalist in Senior World Championships (1982);
  • Senior European champion (1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, and 1983);
  • Silver medalist in Senior European Championships (1982 and 1984);
  • All-time senior world record holder in total (405 kg competing at 82.5 kg);
  • Multiple senior world record holder in total (1978–92);
  • USSR champion (1977, 1979–82);
  • Held the world record of 405 kg, in the total at 82.5 kg weight class before the reconstruction of the weight classes in 1992.


Vardanian was the first light-heavyweight athlete to lift a total of 400 kg total in an official competition. This record is no longer recognised because of a restructuring of the weight classes in 1993 and then again in 1998. However, no athlete has lifted 400 kg thus far in the closest (heavier) weight division of 85 kg.

The 400 kg total lifted by Vardanian in the 1980 Moscow Olympics was worthy a gold medal not only in his, but also in two heavier weight classes: Baczako Peter (90 kg) won gold with a total of 377.5 kg and Zaremba Ota (100 kg) totaled 395 kg. Even in the 110 kg class Vardanian would have a won a bronze, beating Syzali Gygorgy (390 kg). At the 1984 Friendship Cup in Varna, Vardanyan set his last world records, 182.5 kg in the snatch, 224.0 kg in the clean & jerk and 405 kg in the total.

Career bests

  • Snatch
    Snatch (weightlifting)
    The snatch is one of the two olympic weightlifting events .The essence of the event is to lift a barbell from the platform to locked arms overhead in a smooth continuous movement. The barbell is pulled as high as the lifter can manage at which point the barbell is flipped overhead...

    : 182.5kg kg in class to 82.5 kg.
  • Snatch
    Snatch (weightlifting)
    The snatch is one of the two olympic weightlifting events .The essence of the event is to lift a barbell from the platform to locked arms overhead in a smooth continuous movement. The barbell is pulled as high as the lifter can manage at which point the barbell is flipped overhead...

    : 190.0 kg in class to 90 kg.
  • Clean and jerk
    Clean and jerk
    The clean and jerk is one of the two Olympic weightlifting events .The clean portion of the lift refers to the lifter explosively pulling the weight from the floor to a racked position across deltoids and clavicles...

    : 224.0 kg in class to 82.5 kg.
  • Clean and jerk
    Clean and jerk
    The clean and jerk is one of the two Olympic weightlifting events .The clean portion of the lift refers to the lifter explosively pulling the weight from the floor to a racked position across deltoids and clavicles...

    : 228.0 kg in class to 90 kg.
  • Total: 405.0 kg in class to 82.5 kg.
  • Total: 415.0 kg in class to 90 kg.

External links

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