Published: February 7, 2012

SOFIA: Double Olympic wrestling champion Armen Nazarian is pondering a return to competition with the lure of a gold medal at the London Olympics on the horizon. Nazarian, who turns 38 next month, won Greco-Roman gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics while competing for Armenia before taking up Bulgarian citizenship and winning gold at the 2000 Sydney Games. He took the bronze four years later in Athens. “I haven’t decided yet but it goes through my mind,” Nazarian, who announced his retirement in 2009, told Bulgarian daily Tema sport on Monday. “I’m still in the gym all the time and I’m trying to lose some kilos. So if I improve my shape, I’ll probably compete in the 66kg category at the Olympic qualifications in April.”

The Olympic qualification tournament will take place at the Arena Armeec Sofia from April 18 to 22. On Friday, Swedish Greco-Roman wrestler Ara Abrahamian came out of retirement to compete at the Nikola Petrov tournament, also in Sofia. The 36-year-old hit the headlines at the 2008 Beijing Olympics for being stripped of his 84kg-category bronze medal after he discarded it on the mat in protest at the refereeing. Armenia-born Abrahamian, who won gold medals at the world championships in 2001 and 2002 and silver at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, declined to comment on his future when contacted by Reuters.

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