Background
Hrant Shahinyan was born on July 30, 1923 in the village of Gyulagarak.
Hrant Shahinyan was born on July 30, 1923 in the village of Gyulagarak.
Shahinyan has awarded the honors Honoured Master of Sports of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics in 1952, Honored Coach of Armenia in 1961 and Honored Worker of Physical Culture and Sports of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1966. From 1967 to 1969, he headed the Sports Committee of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and from 1969 to 1975 he was the Deputy Chairman of the Sports Committee. His family moved to Yerevan in 1930.
In 1943 at the age of 20, Shahinyan volunteered to fight in the front line in World World War II and received a wounded leg during service.
Hrant Shahinyan began studying gymnastics under Harutyun Gargaloyana after moving to Yerevan. Shahinyan had qualified for every event.
Shahinyan was unable to best Chukarin in the pommel horse either. He tied in second with stablemate Yevgeny Korolkov, resulting in two silver medalists.
Shahinyan came in fourth place in the parallel bars.
To highlight the level of success of Armenians in the Olympics, Shahinyan was quoted as saying:.
He had to walk with a stick afterward, but after undergoing treatment in 1946 and through much hard work, was able to become a member of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics Artistic Gymnastic National Team. As a member of the Soviet Union national team, Shahinyan competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.