Armenia at the 1994 Winter Olympics

{{infobox country at games

| NOC = ARM

| NOCname = National Olympic Committee of Armenia

| games = Winter Olympics

| year = 1994

| flagcaption =

| oldcode =

| website = {{url|www.armnoc.am }} {{in lang|hy}}

| location = Lillehammer

| competitors = 2

| sports = 1

| flagbearer = Arsen Harutyunyan (alpine skiing)

| rank =

| gold = 0

| silver = 0

| bronze = 0

| officials =

| appearances = auto

| app_begin_year = 1994

| app_end_year =

| summerappearances =

| winterappearances =

| seealso = {{flagIOC|RU1}} (1900–1912)
{{flagIOC|URS}} (1952–1988)
{{flagIOC|EUN}} (1992)

}}

Armenia sent a delegation to compete at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway from 12–27 February 1994. This was Armenia's first time competing at the Winter Olympic Games as an independent nation. The Armenian delegation consisted of two bobsledders, the Armenian-Americans Ken Topalian and Joe Almasian. They competed as a team in the two-man competition, where they finished in 36th place.

Background

Armenia became an independent nation again following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.{{cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/countries/armenia|title=Armenia – Countries – Office of the Historian|publisher=United States Department of State|access-date=9 July 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510113151/https://history.state.gov/countries/armenia|archive-date=10 May 2018}} The National Olympic Committee of Armenia was recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 31 December 1992.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympic.org/armenia|title=Armenia – National Olympic Committee (NOC)|publisher=International Olympic Committee|access-date=9 July 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709102002/https://www.olympic.org/armenia|archive-date=9 July 2018}} The Lillehammer games were Armenia's first as an independent nation, they have gone on to participate in every Summer and Winter Olympics since.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/ARM/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417092323/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/ARM/|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2020|title=Armenia|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=28 August 2018}} The 1994 Winter Olympics were held from 12–27 February 1994, a total of 1,737 athletes took part, representing 67 National Olympic Committees.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympic.org/lillehammer-1994|title=Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympics – results & video highlights|publisher=International Olympic Committee|access-date=11 August 2018}} The Armenian delegation to Lillehammer consisted of two bobsledders, Ken Topalian and Joe Almasian.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/ARM/winter/1994/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417092324/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/ARM/winter/1994/|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2020|title=Armenia at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=28 August 2018}}

Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.[https://www.olympedia.org/countries/ARM/editions/45 Armenia at the 1994 Winter Olympics]

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
width=180\|Sport ! width=55\|Men ! width=55\|Women ! width=55\|Total
align=left\|Bobsleigh \| 2	–	2
Total \|\| 2 \|\| 0 \|\| 2

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

width=180|Sport

! width=55|Men

! width=55|Women

! width=55|Total

align=left|Bobsleigh

| 2

–

Total || 2 || 0 || 2

Bobsleigh

Ken Topalian was 30 years old at the time of the Lillehammer Games, and is from Pawtucket, Rhode Island.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/to/ken-topalian-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418073858/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/to/ken-topalian-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 April 2020|title=Ken Topalian Bio, Stats, and Results|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=21 August 2018}} Joe Almasian was 26 years old at the time, and was born in Framingham, Massachusetts.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/al/joe-almasian-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418104423/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/al/joe-almasian-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 April 2020|title=Joe Almasian Bio, Stats, and Results|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=21 August 2018}} They were friends through the Armenian Youth League, neither had ever been to Armenia. The two-man bobsleigh competition was held over two days, 19–20 February, with two runs being held on each day; the sum of all four run times was used to determine final placement.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1994/BOB/mens-two.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417225552/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1994/BOB/mens-two.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2020|title=Bobsleigh at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games: Men's Two|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=27 August 2018}} On the first day, the Armenian sled posted times of 54.85 seconds{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1994/BOB/mens-two-run-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417082000/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1994/BOB/mens-two-run-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2020|title=Bobsleigh at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games: Men's Two Run 1|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=27 August 2018}} and 55.03 seconds.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1994/BOB/mens-two-run-2.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417082000/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1994/BOB/mens-two-run-2.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2020|title=Bobsleigh at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games: Men's Two Run 2|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=27 August 2018}} Overnight, they were in 37th place out of 43 competing teams.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1994/BOB/mens-two-runs-1-2.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417225553/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1994/BOB/mens-two-runs-1-2.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2020|title=Bobsleigh at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games: Men's Two Runs 1–2|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=27 August 2018}} The next day, their run times were 54.92 seconds{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1994/BOB/mens-two-run-3.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417082002/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1994/BOB/mens-two-run-3.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2020|title=Bobsleigh at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games: Men's Two Run 3|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=27 August 2018}} and 55.01 seconds{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1994/BOB/mens-two-run-4.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417082001/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1994/BOB/mens-two-run-4.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2020|title=Bobsleigh at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games: Men's Two Run 4|publisher=Sports Reference|access-date=27 August 2018}} This made their total time for the competition 3 minutes and 39.81 seconds, which put them in 36th position. The gold and silver medals were won by Swiss sleds, and the bronze was taken by an Italian team.

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
rowspan="2"\|Athlete !rowspan="2"\|Event !colspan="6"\|Final
Run 1 !Run 2 !Run 3 !Run 4 !Total !Rank
Joe Almasian Ken Topalian \|Two-man \|align="center"\|54.85 \|align="center"\|55.03 \|align="center"\|54.92 \|align="center"\|55.01 \|align="center"\|3:39.81 !align="center"\|36

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"

rowspan="2"|Athlete

!rowspan="2"|Event

!colspan="6"|Final

Run 1

!Run 2

!Run 3

!Run 4

!Total

!Rank

Joe Almasian
Ken Topalian

|Two-man