Armenian wrestlers competed again in Baku: Janes Nazaryan won gold and marked the return after 11 years
Armenian wrestlers competed in Azerbaijan for the first time since the 2015 European Games, and their return to the sports arena in Baku gained a strong symbolic frame after Janes Nazaryan won the title of U17 world champion in Greco-Roman wrestling. At the U17 World Championships, held from July 27 to August 2, 2026, at the National Gymnastics Arena in the capital of Azerbaijan, Nazaryan defeated Aslan Dzuev, a representative of Russia, in the 71-kilogram category by a score of 4:3. According to data from United World Wrestling, the Armenian wrestler thereby won first place in that category and continued his undefeated streak in the 2026 season. His victory also had additional significance because after the final in Baku, the Armenian flag was raised and the Armenian anthem was played. In a country whose relations with Armenia have for decades been burdened by wars, disputes over Nagorno-Karabakh and unresolved humanitarian issues, the sports protocol grew into a scene that far exceeded the boundaries of a single junior medal.
Gold in the final that changed the tone of the championship
Nazaryan reached the title after a convincing performance throughout the entire tournament, and his official profile at United World Wrestling records victories over Martin Letvik of Norway 8:0, Muhammet Resit Yuruk of Turkey 9:0, Ervin Czuczor of Hungary 9:0 and Kristiyan Georgijev Krastev of Bulgaria 8:0. Only in the final against Dzuev, the 2026 U17 European champion in the 65-kilogram category, did the bout remain uncertain until the final moments. According to Sportaran, Nazaryan trailed 1:3 after the first period, but in the continuation he gained the key points from par terre and turned the match around to 4:3. UWW had previously reported that both finalists reached the gold-medal bout with convincing semifinal victories, with Nazaryan defeating Krastev 8:0 and Dzuev defeating Iranian representative Esmaeil Zaherdoust 10:1. It was precisely this combination of a dominant path to the final and a dramatic finish that made Nazaryan’s performance one of the most notable events of the Greco-Roman part of the championship.
For the Armenian wrestler, this was not his first major result in the younger age categories. United World Wrestling states that Nazaryan won the U17 world title in Greece in 2025 in the 65-kilogram category, and in 2026 in Bulgaria the U17 European title in the 71-kilogram category. In Baku, he thus confirmed his transition to a higher category and defended his status as one of the most successful young wrestlers of his generation. His streak in 2026, according to his UWW profile, includes ten victories and no defeats, which further shows that the result in Azerbaijan was not an isolated flash but the continuation of a very stable season. It is especially important that in the four bouts before the final he achieved technical superiority without conceding a point, which made the final against Dzuev the only match in Baku in which the opponent managed to open the scoring contest more seriously. Such a path to gold gives sporting weight to an event that inevitably also gained political resonance in public.
The Armenian anthem in Baku and reactions from the stands
After the final, the official medal ceremony followed, at which the Armenian flag was raised and the anthem of Armenia was played. Sportaran and Zartonk Media reported, also citing video footage published by the Armenian Wrestling Federation, that Nazaryan walked around the mat carrying the Armenian flag after his victory. The same sources state that disapproval was heard from part of the stands, but the official competition protocol was carried out without interruption. In journalistic terms, that scene was important because it reminded how international sport in regions burdened by conflicts can become a space in which symbols, flags and anthems are read as carefully as results. At the same time, the sporting result remains clear: Nazaryan won according to the rules of the competition, took gold and entered the list of two-time U17 world champions in his discipline.
According to Sportaran, after returning from Baku Nazaryan said that his main goal had been to become world champion and that he experienced the victory as the fruit of work with his coaches. The same report states that he emphasized that his coach helped him remain calm in the demanding moments of the final. These details are important because they remove part of the sensationalist layer that is easily attached to the performance of an Armenian athlete in Azerbaijan and return the focus to sporting preparation, tactical adjustment and mental stability. Finals in younger categories often determine future senior careers, but they rarely take place in an atmosphere in which every gesture on the mat is burdened by broader political memory. Nazaryan’s performance can therefore be read both as the sporting success of a young wrestler and as an indicator of how sensitive international competitions are when they include countries with a recent history of armed conflict.
Armenia finished the Greco-Roman part with three medals
The Armenian national team did not rely only on Nazaryan’s gold in Baku. In the Greco-Roman part of the championship, two more bronze medals were won, so Armenia finished that part of the competition with a total of three medals. United World Wrestling listed in the results for the 48-kilogram category that Ararat Avetisyan defeated Benedek Tombor of Hungary 8:0 and thereby won bronze. In the 51-kilogram category, bronze was won by Gevorg Harutyunyan, who, according to competition reports and results published by USA Wrestling, defeated Georgian Saba Abashidze 5:0 in the third-place bout. Those two medals further strengthened the impression that the Armenian performance in Baku was not only a symbolic return, but also a competitively successful mission.
Harutyunyan’s path also had particular sporting tension because in the quarterfinal he lost to Azerbaijani representative Abdurrahman Huseynli 6:4. UWW recorded in its daily report that Huseynli withstood Harutyunyan’s pressure in the second part of the match and secured passage to the semifinal. For the home crowd, that match was one of the more emotional moments of the day, while for the Armenian squad it meant continuing through an additional path toward a medal. Harutyunyan later used the opportunity and won bronze, thereby softening the sporting disappointment from the quarterfinal. Avetisyan secured his medal a day earlier with a dominant victory in the third-place bout, and UWW’s results confirm that Armenia already had its first medal in Baku before Nazaryan’s final victory.
Return after the 2015 European Games
The special nature of this championship stems from the fact that Armenian athletes, according to available reports on the delegation, competed again at a competition in Azerbaijan for the first time since 2015. Armenpress reported on July 21, 2026, citing the press service of the Armenian Wrestling Federation, that Armenia would be represented in Baku by freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers. In the Greco-Roman squad, among others, Ararat Avetisyan, Gevorg Harutyunyan and Janes Nazaryan were listed, while six wrestlers were entered in freestyle. This means that the Armenian presence was organized at the level of the national team and was not limited to an individual athlete. The announcement of the roster itself was significant because the trip to Baku was discussed in the context of security, sports protocol and the long break in direct appearances by Armenian athletes in Azerbaijan.
The last comparable appearance by an Armenian delegation in Baku before this championship was connected to the 2015 European Games. The official European Games website states that Armenia then won one medal in the overall standings, and Armenian public radio reported that Greco-Roman wrestler Mihran Harutyunyan won silver in the 66-kilogram category. That fact further emphasizes why the return of young wrestlers in 2026 attracted attention beyond the narrow sports circle. In the period between those two events, relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan further deteriorated because of wars and political disputes, and sports encounters became rare and sensitive. The return to Baku after 11 years therefore cannot be viewed only through the medal table, but also through the question of how international federations, host countries and delegations manage competitions that carry a high symbolic risk.
A championship with a record number of young wrestlers
The U17 World Championships in Baku were a major competition even beyond the Armenian-Azerbaijani context. United World Wrestling announced before the championship that the tournament would gather 675 wrestlers, which, according to that organization, was the largest number of participants in the history of U17 world championships. The competition was held at the National Gymnastics Arena, and the program began with Greco-Roman style, continued with women’s wrestling and ended with freestyle. UWW also stated that the championship was returning to Baku after 14 years, giving the Azerbaijani capital once again the role of host of one of the most important competitions for younger age categories. For athletes under 17, such tournaments are often the first major international test and the starting point of careers that may later develop toward junior, senior and Olympic levels.
Azerbaijan as the host had a strong interest in the success of its young national team members, and UWW in its preview also highlighted high expectations for the home team after a successful performance at the European level. Still, the championship by its structure was global, with competitors from several continents and different wrestling schools. In such an environment, the Armenian medals gain additional sporting value because they were achieved in a field in which European, Asian, American and other styles of preparation met. Nazaryan’s gold, Avetisyan’s bronze and Harutyunyan’s bronze therefore represent not only a regional story, but also a result within one of the most competitive age-group competitions in wrestling. It was precisely that combination of a global sporting framework and a locally sensitive venue that made Baku 2026 an exceptionally important event for Armenian wrestling.
Sport in the shadow of long political tensions
The political background gives this sporting event a weight that similar junior championships usually do not have. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been in conflict for decades over Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but populated mostly by Armenians before the last phase of the conflict. UNHCR states that in September 2023 more than 100,000 refugees from Karabakh arrived in Armenia within a short period, creating long-term humanitarian consequences. The Council of the European Union, in its information on Armenia, states that more than 121,000 Karabakh Armenians fled to Armenia after the Azerbaijani military operation in September 2023. These data explain why the appearance of Armenian athletes in Baku could not be perceived as a completely ordinary sports trip to an international championship.
At the same time, the diplomatic process between the two states continued to develop. In 2025, the European Union welcomed the initialling of the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the political declaration after the meeting of the leaders of the two states in Washington. Nevertheless, European institutions continued to warn of open issues, including the humanitarian consequences of the conflict, the position of displaced persons and trust between societies that had lived for years with the legacy of war. In that context, the sports appearance in Baku cannot be interpreted as proof that political problems have been resolved, but it can show that in strictly regulated international frameworks, spaces for contact are nevertheless opening. The competition under the auspices of UWW made it possible for athletes to meet on the mat, under federation rules, with clear protocols for flags, anthems and medals.
What Nazaryan’s success means for Armenian wrestling
For Armenian wrestling, Nazaryan’s title comes at a moment when younger generations are confirming the continuity of one of the most successful sporting traditions in the country. A U17 world title two years in a row suggests that he has the potential to transition into older age groups with great attention from the professional public, although the path from cadet success to the senior elite is never linear. Baku gave him a result that will remain an important reference in the early phase of his career. For the entire national team, three medals in the Greco-Roman part of the championship mean that the performance had broader value than one individual victory. In the final picture, the fact remains that the Armenian anthem was played in Baku after a legally won gold medal, and that two more Armenian bronzes were recorded alongside it.
The broader significance of the Baku moment
The story from Baku is therefore not only the story of one final in the 71-kilogram category. It includes the return of Armenian athletes to Azerbaijan after 11 years, the success of a young national team at the world level and a public moment in which sporting symbols appeared in a space deeply marked by political history. Neutral sporting rules did not remove the tensions between the two societies, but they made it possible for the result to be recognized, medals awarded and anthems performed according to international protocol. For readers outside the South Caucasus, this may be precisely the most important aspect of the event: a junior wrestling championship showed how sport can simultaneously be competition, a diplomatic test and a public stage of collective memory. Nazaryan’s gold will remain recorded in UWW’s results, but the sight of the Armenian flag in Baku will probably be remembered as long as the 4:3 result itself.
Sources:
- United World Wrestling – Janes Nazaryan’s profile and official results. (link)
- United World Wrestling – championship preview, dates, arena and entries. (link)
- United World Wrestling – championship overview and number of participants. (link)
- United World Wrestling – Greco-Roman results. (link)
- United World Wrestling – daily report and results. (link)
- Armenpress – Armenian national team roster. (link)
- Sportaran – report on the final, anthem and medals. (link)
- USA Wrestling – result of Gevorg Harutyunyan’s bronze-medal bout. (link)
- European Games – 2015 European Games and medals. (link)
- UNHCR Armenia – data on refugees from Karabakh. (link)
- Council of the European Union – context of the conflict and normalization process. (link)