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Nelson DavidyanSoviet Greco-Roman wrestler, coach, three-time USSR champion
Date of Birth: 06.04.1950
Country:  Ukraine |
Content:
Early Life and Career
Nelson Davtyan was born in the village of Чартар, in the Martuni region of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. In 1958, his family relocated to Grozny, where he began wrestling in 1964 under the tutelage of Igor Kondratsky.
International Success
In 1973, Davtyan captured his first European title in the lightweight category. The following year, he stunned the wrestling world by replacing Shamil Khisamutdinov at the World Championships in Katowice. Despite being significantly outweighed, he emerged victorious and claimed both the gold medal and the Best Wrestling Technique Award.
In 1975, Davtyan regained the world championship, this time in the lightweight category. He represented the Soviet Union at the Montreal Olympics, winning a silver medal. In 1980, he won the European Championship but was inexplicably omitted from the Soviet Olympic team.
Coaching Career
After retiring from competition in 1981, Davtyan became a coach for the Dynamo sports society and the Soviet youth team. He served as head coach of the Ukrainian national team in the early and late 1990s and returned to the role in 2006.
Under Davtyan's leadership, Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestlers achieved significant success. In 2006, Vladimir Shatskikh won the world championship, and in 2007, the Ukrainian team captured the Greco-Roman World Cup for the first time in many years. This triumph earned Davtyan the title of Honored Coach of Ukraine.
Despite a bronze medal by Armen Vardanyan at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Ukrainian team's performance was deemed unsatisfactory. Davtyan was replaced as head coach in January 2009 by Oleksandr Kotovoy, who had previously led the Ukrainian team through an unsuccessful Olympic cycle.
