Artur Ayvazyan

Artur Surenovych Ayvazyan (; , born 14 January 1973) is an Olympic shooter for Ukraine and Russia who won a gold medal in the 50 metre rifle prone event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Born in Armenia, Ayvazyan took up shooting in 1985 and moved to Ukraine in 1990, when he competed in his first major international tournament as a junior. He won one medal as a junior, in 1993, before moving up to the senior division in 1994. He moved to Simferopol in 1997 to train with a new coach and captured his first ISSF World Cup victory the following year. As of 2012 he has participated in every edition of the Olympics since 2000 and has won six World and seven European Championship medals in individual and team events, including his junior bronze from 1993. In 2014 he began competing for Russia.

Early life Ayvazyan was born on 14 January 1973 in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, then part of the Soviet Union. He took up sport shooting in 1985 and moved to Lviv in what is now Ukraine in 1990, after his parents were unable to pay the bribe to get him into the Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture. There he entered a local infantry school

International career Ayvazyan entered his first senior European Shooting Championship in 1994, in Strasbourg, France, placing 26th in the 10 metre air rifle division. He also participated in the World Championships for the first time, in Milan, Italy, with a best placing of 12th in the 50 metre rifle three positions competition among four events. He finished with double digits rankings over the next three years of European Championships He was also European Champion in both divisions in 1999.

Olympic results