Doha (QAT) March 11, 2017: Harutyun Medinyan and Artur Davtyan, who had competed at the Rio Games last year, but did not finish on the podium, will look forward to pick up medals in Doha.
Vahagn Davtyan and Artur Tovmasya are the other two athletes for the Doha-bound squad.
In fact, Doha has been a favourite venue for Medinyan and Davtyan as they had been successful in the previous editions and will look forward to add more to their kitty in the competition which will have more than 100 gymnasts from 33 countries.
The Soviet-Armenian gymnast Albert Azaryan is considered to be the most decorated Olympian in Armenia, winning three gold and one silver medals for the erstwhile Soviet Union team at the 1956 and 1960 Olympic games on the still rings.
Azaryan became the first ever gymnast to become an Olympic champion in rings twice, a feat that Akinori Nakayama would accomplish 12 years later and no one else has matched ever since.
However, after Armenia’s independence in 1991, no athlete has won an Olympic medal in the sport.
The failure at the Olympics may have pricked their pride, but it was not easy to overcome competitors from the USA, China and Japan.
Medinyan and Davtyan may have learnt their lessons from the Olympics. It will be interesting to see how they fare in Doha edition, which starts on March 22.