LEGENDARY ARMENIAN GYMNAST ALBERT AZARYAN MARKS 80TH BIRTHDAY
PanARMENIAN.Net
11.02.2009 16:29 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ President of the Armenian Olympic Gymnastics
Federation Albert Azaryan is marking his 80th birthday today.
"I receive congratulations all day long. I feel perfect, as if I
am 40. I haven’t received presents yet but I do not like presents,
to tell the truth. There is nothing better than congratulations
from relatives and friends," Azaryan said in a conversation with a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
"Today, I received a congratulation message from the President
of Armenia. When I was 70, I received congratulation from late
Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan. Then-President Robert Kocharian
congratulated me on the 75th birthday. This year, President of the
Olympic Committee Gagik Tsarukyan promised to organize an event
dedicated to my jubilee on February 17. As to future plans, you know
that our gymnasts did not participate in the Beijing Olympiad. Now,
we are training sportsmen for the next Olympiad due in London in 2012,"
he said.
Albert Azaryan (born February 11, 1929 in Yerevan) is an Armenian
artistic gymnast who competed internationally representing the
Soviet Union. He is the 1956 and 1960 Olympic champion on the still
rings. He was the first person to do one of the most famous exercises
on the rings called the Iron Cross, Crucifix, or Azarian Cross in an
international competition. He is the 1954 and 1958 World Champion on
the rings and 1958 silver medalist on the horizontal bar.