The first Armenian who participated in the Ancient Olympic Games and won the Olympic Games in 281 in ancient Greece was King Tiridates III of Armenia from the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia.
King Tiridates III of Armenia played in the races of quadriga – chariots harnessed by four horses. He won the wrestling competition in 281 at the 265th Games in Greece.
What distinguishes Tiridates III of Armenia is the fact that it was during his reign that Armenia became the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as the state religion in 301.
In 393, in Ancient Greece, the Armenian king of the Varazdat Arsacid dynasty won a wrestling competition, and his name was engraved on a marble slab as the winner of the last Olympiad.
Movses Khorenatsi wrote about the reign of Varazdat: “The philosopher Augustus from Theodosia, nicknamed the Great, in the twentieth year of his reign appointed Varazdat from the same Arsacid dynasty of Armenia as the king of Armenia instead of the Pap.”
Varazdat was young, bold and strong, very skillful and smart. At the time he fled from Shapouh and, having come to the palace of the emperor, accomplished many feats.
First he defeated the fist fighters in Pisa, then in the City of the Sun, Hellada, he beat the lions, and then at the Olympic Games he was honored, and the feats he accomplished could be compared with the deeds of St. Trdat.
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