Hripsime Khurshudyan: I don’t feel like it, but it’s time to retire from weightlifting
ABC Interview’s guest was weightlifter Hripsime Khurshudyan. The weightlifter assumes that the 2024 European Weightlifting Championships will probably be the end of her sporting career. Hripsime says she returned to sport to prove that the doping scandal she was involved in years ago was baseless and that her victories have been only the result of her innate abilities, diligence and overwhelming love for weightlifting.
– People were very impressed and excited by your latest performance; the scene of saying goodbye to the barbell was especially moving. Have you firmly decided to retire from weightlifting?
– It’s most painful to me… I don’t feel like it, but it’s time to retire. I had a lot of injuries. If there weren’t so many injuries, I would probably play this sport until I was 90 years old (smiles). It was very difficult for me, from a psychological point of view, to realize that the championship was the last European championship with my participation… The world championship will be held in December; if I can make it, I will take part, if not, then my sporting career will really be over with this.
– When did you first participate in a sporting competition abroad?
I took up weightlifting in 1999. In 2001, I took part in an international competition and returned home with a medal.
– Where was that competition held?
– It was the European Junior Championships; it was held in Austria. At first, they didn’t even want to take me because they were not sure. They thought: “She is a girl, we had better not take her to the European championship. And who said there must be girls in the Armenia team?” Armenian Weightlifting Federation Secretary Pashik Alaverdyan intervened, saying: “I promise Hripsime will win a medal; if he doesn’t, I will quit my job.” So, great was the responsibility that I took on then. But I returned home with a medal, and he did not resign.
– During this latest championship, did the Federation believe that you would return with a medal?
Fifteen days before the championship, I picked up a serious injury; my hernias raised their ugly heads; I had nerve inflammation and muscle contraction; I couldn’t train at all. In fact, I achieved that result within 10 days. I told them: “I am going to just have fun. You shouldn’t expect a medal, as I cannot achieve good results now.” I told them, “If you have serious expectations, I had better not go, but stay at home.” My husband and the chief coach of the team said that “we believe in Hripsime Khurshudyan, if you are the one that you used to be, struggling and aspiring, you will definitely do that”. Well, what about me? I just need to be encouraged and left to my own devices; then, I’ll do the rest.
– Hripsime, years ago you were disqualified for some reason. How did you overcome it and find the strength to return to sport years later?
I was told about it in 2016. I was supposed to take part in the Olympic Games for the third time, and I was going for a medal. Then, an announcement came that I was disqualified. I was taken aback as I had been participating for eight years, and I was told all of a sudden that I had been disqualified for taking such and such drugs. It was an absurd situation, of course… More than 100 top athletes were disqualified that year, like me, and were not allowed to participate. Of course, it caused me a lot of pain. I was suffering emotional stress; everyone had forgotten me. That is a serious blow to an athlete as well. How can it happen that an athlete always makes people happy and raises the country’s flag, and now, lo and behold, all that work goes down the drain in an hour, and you have no one by your side. It was my coach, my husband and my family who stood by my side at that time.
– And what was the reason for the break?
The reason was the doping scandal. I was not allowed to return to sport until 2022. There was a deadline, and I could not play sports until it had passed.
Interview by Lena Gevorgyan
