Armen Nazaryan (, , born 9 March 1974) is an Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler who later represented Bulgaria. Nazaryan is a two-time Olympic Champion (1996, 2000), a three-time World Champion (2002, 2003, 2005), and a six-time European Champion (1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003). After Armenia regained independence in 1991, Nazaryan became the first Olympic gold medalist for the country. He was recognized by the FILA as the best wrestler of the year in 1998 and 2003. In 2007, Nazaryan was inducted as a member of the FILA Hall of Fame. Early life Nazaryan was born on 9 March 1974 in Masis, Armenia. He started wrestling at the age of eight under the coaching of Robert Nersesyan and entered the Yerevan Sports School in 1987. Career In 1993, Nazaryan became an Espoir World Wrestling Champion and won a silver medal at the senior 1993 World Wrestling Championships. This marked the debut of Armenia in the World Wrestling Championships. Nazaryan had won the first ever medal for the independent Republic of Armenia at the World Wrestling Championships. The following year, Nazaryan won a gold medal at the 1994 European Wrestling Championships, as both a senior and an espoir. Nazaryan became the first European Wrestling Champion from independent Armenia in the country's debut in the European Wrestling Championships. Turning 21 in the coming year, Nazaryan would soon become no longer eligible to compete in younger tournaments and competed only as a senior from then on. Nazaryan repeated both the European Wrestling Championships gold medal and World Wrestling Championships silver medal in 1995, the former making him only the second European Wrestling Champion from Armenia. Because of his international success, Nazaryan was eligible to compete at the 1996 Summer Olympics. 1996 Summer Olympics Both Armen and his country made their debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Already a decorated sportsman, Nazaryan was one of the gold medal favorites of the competition in his weight class. He won a landslide victory in all five fights, defeating reigning World Wrestling Champion Samvel Danielyan, who defeated Nazaryan at the 1995 World Championships final, in the quarterfinals and home country favorite Brandon Paulson in the finals. Nazaryan became an Olympic gold medalist, the first ever Armenian athlete to become an Olympic medalist and Olympic Champion under the country's flag. He was voted the Armenian Athlete of the Year for 1996. Over a year later, Nazaryan became a citizen