NANJING, China (Armenpress)—15-year-old Russian-Armenian gymnast Seda Tutkhalyan has won two gold medals and one silver in her campaign at the 2nd Summer Youth Olympics being held in Nanjing, China.

 

Tutkhalyan, competing on behalf of Russia, won gold in the Women’s All-Around and Women’s Uneven Bars events. She won silver in the Women’s Floor Exercise event.

Tutkhalyan struggled to give her best performance on the Vault, falling two places short of a medal in the event. However, Tutkhalyan’s excellent set on the Uneven Bars, with high difficulty and clean execution, brought her not only the top score of the competition in the event (14.050), but also the overall lead that she retained to the end. Her delightful performance on Balance Beam (14.000) also helped Tutkhalyan expanded her lead over her challengers in the All-Around competition.

The last competitor of the final, Tutkhalyan had to hold her breath as she waited for her score on the Floor Exercise, hoping that it would be enough for the gold after she fell on her last tumbling line. Her lead had shrunk, but the 12.450 points sufficed to keep her on top and Tutkhalyan (54.900) took the title following in the steps of her compatriot and sport hero Victoria Komova, who became the first Youth Olympic All-Around champion in Singapore in 2010.

“I thought I would come second because I fell, but then when I came in first, I was very happy,” she said. “This can happen only once in a lifetime, that you go to the Youth Olympic Games. Very few people get here. I took winning a medal as a given, but I would also be happy if I got second.”

17-year-old Armenian wrestler Zaven Mikaelyan won a silver medal in men’s Greco-Roman wrestling (85 kg / 187 lb) following 18-year-old boxer Narek Manasyan’s clinch of the bronze medal on Monday at the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games held in Nanjing, China.

Zaven Mikaelyan lost to Russia’s Arslan Zubairov in the final. He had defeated wrestlers representing the Dominican Republic, Tunisia, and Argentina on his way to the final.

Boxer Narek Manasyan defeated Viddal Riley representing the United Kingdom by a score of 2 to 1 in the Men’s Light Heavy (81kg / 178 lb) Bronze Medal Bout. Manasyan defeated Turkey’s Mehmet Ufuk Tekneci and Kazakhstan’s Vadim Kazakov on his way to the bronze medal bout.

Last week, Hakob Mkrtchyan, 17, earned the first place prize after a brilliant performance in the 77 kg (170 lb) weight class. His result was 319 kg (703 lb). Hrachik Babayan won a silver medal in shooting competition.