Career
Petikyan is a four-time Olympian who has represented three different nations: the Soviet Union, the Unified Team and the Republic of Armenia. He has been awarded the Honored Master of Sport of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics title. Petikyan started shooting in the Yerevan dynamo sports club under the honored coach of Armenia, Martyn Kalechyan.
At the 1988 Summer Olympics, competing as a Soviet, Petikyan participated in the 10 metre air rifle and the 50 metre rifle, three positions.
He notably came in sixth place in the latter. Petikyan was entrusted with carrying the Armenian flag at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
He also came in eighth place in the 50 metre rifle prone, meaning he had ranked in the top eight of every rifle competition at the Olympics. Petikyan now began representing his native Armenia.
He competed for Armenia at the 1996 Summer Olympics and 2000 Summer Olympics, each in his specialty, the men"s 50 metre rifle three positions.
However, he was unable to qualify for the finals at either Olympics. In 1997, he headed the Armenian Shooting Federation and junior sports school for shooting in Armenia. In 2007, Petikyan participated in the ceremony to light the fire for the IV Pan-Armenian Games.