16 August: Artur Aleksanyan presents his gold medal to the cameras. In Armenia, the human cost of Karabakh is often linked to a cry for social justice. Source: Dalma News.Several months ago, Artur Aleksanyan stood atop the medal podium in Rio de Janeiro an Olympic champion. The Greco-Roman wrestler had just claimed Armenia’s second official gold medal at the 2016 Summer Games.
Aleksanyan’s celebration at the medal ceremony was particularly poignant. Instead of basking in the moment, the athlete used his opportunity to pay tribute to a 19-year-old fallen soldier. The soldier, Robert Abajyan, was an Armenian junior sergeant in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) Defense Army who was shot dead during the “Four day war” with Azerbaijan in April earlier this year.
The emotional tribute was a touching reminder of the troubles facing Armenia, and called attention to the difficult lives led by many athletes from the post-Soviet space. For many, a career in sports is one of few avenues of social mobility. While Aleksanyan and others often train in unimaginable poverty, their nation’s sports representatives indulge in luxurious lifestyles and wallow in their ill-gotten wealth.
