Topouzian and Sarkisov Win Pentathlons

By Bob Tutunjian

Both pentathlon events ended up being won by large margins, but the point totals were somewhat deceiving for the women’s competition. First-year participant Knar Topouzian from Detroit took the gold over defending champion Nairi Krafian of Greater Boston, with scores of 2,326 and 2,069, respectively. But after the first three events, the duo was separated by a scant 17 points. The final standings were only resolved after the final two running events were completed. Victoria Sudjian of Philadelphia took the bronze with 1,653 points. Boston’s Vigen Sarkisov defended his men’s title with 2,684 points, an improvement over his total of 2,560 last year. He was over 300 points in front of Mardig Khatchadrian of Philly. Mardig had to finish hard to stay just ahead of 2012 silver medalist Ara Markarian of Detroit, with total scores of 2,345 and 2,302.

The women’s competition started with the shot put early on Sunday morning with five entrants. Knar threw 26’ to win the event, but Nairi was close behind with a throw of 24’1”—about 3’ further than last year. Scoring stood at 394 to 357. Next up was the high jump, which was very tightly contested. Nairi bounced back to win by 1” at 4’5” and closed the scoring gap to 17 points. The third event was the long jump and the pair actually tied at 14’11” which was further than the winning jump for the open women. The 200-meter dash was next and the two ladies battled around the track curve. Knar finished strong down the final 100 meter straightaway to win at 27.42, with Nairi clocking 28.87. Both of these times were also well below the winning time for open women’s 200. As a result, the gap widened to 130 points. Nairi would have to win the final 800-meter run by over 13 seconds. But Knar ran a controlled race staying in front to win her first Olympics gold medal.

Knar practiced several times per week over the summer since she had to learn the three field events. During the year, she plays soccer and basketball for her high school, so track events were somewhat new to her. Her father Daron taught her the shot put while Detroit coaches Dave Shahrigian and Armen Derderian helped with her long jump. Then her high school basketball coach worked with her on the high jump, which was the most significant event for her to master. Her soccer training gave Knar a strong background for the running events. Daron said, “She is very coachable, looking to learn and perform. She appreciates coaching and support.” And the results clearly showed on Labor Day weekend.

First place for the men’s pentathlon, on the other hand, was a not close affair. Defending champion Vigen Sarkisov won all of the first four events decisively and then relaxed in the final 1600-meter run. He threw the discus 112’2” and followed that with a 40’11” shot put heave. Both of these throws were significantly further than the winning throws for the open men’s shot and discus. At this point, Vigen had the lead with 1,180 points while Ara Markarian had 1,026 and Mardig was in third with 900. The long jump saw another win by Sarkisov with a leap of 18’4”. But Mardig jumped 17’2.75” and gained 70 points on Ara for second place. In the 200, Vigen clocked 24.34 to build his total to 2,341 to stay ahead by over 400 points. But the battle for the silver heated up as Mardig recorded 25.03 to run his total to 1,934 points, with Ara in third at 1,917. The 1600-meter run was coming at the end of a blistering hot day of competition. Ara and Mardig took the lead and battled back and forth knowing that second place hung in the balance. In the end, Mardig won the 1,600 in 5:51.81 and the silver medal, giving his Philly chapter a valuable 9 points near the end of the track meet.