Historic Gold! Hamlet Manukyan Becomes Independent Armenia's First Pommel Horse World Champion

Armenian gymnast Hamlet Manukyan made history at the 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The 19-year-old athlete won the gold medal in the pommel horse event, becoming the first gymnast from independent Armenia to claim a world title on this apparatus.

The final, held on October 24, turned into a remarkable triumph for Armenian gymnastics. Two members of the Armenian national team reached the podium: Hamlet Manukyan claimed gold with a score of 15.300 points, while 19-year-old Mamikon Khachatryan secured bronze with 15.000 points.

Manukyan delivered an outstanding routine, receiving 5.900 points for difficulty and an impressive 9.400 for execution. His final score of 15.300 was enough to defeat Italy's Gabriele Targhetta, who took silver with 15.233 points.

The gold medal was therefore decided by a margin of just 0.067 points.

2026 World Championships Pommel Horse Final Results

1. Hamlet Manukyan (Armenia) — 15.300

2. Gabriele Targhetta (Italy) — 15.233

3. Mamikon Khachatryan (Armenia) — 15.000

Notably, Manukyan confirmed his status as one of the competition's leading favorites. During qualification, the Armenian gymnast had already posted the highest score among all participants with 14.933 points. Mamikon Khachatryan advanced to the final in fourth place after scoring 14.733 points.

A Historic Achievement for Armenian Gymnastics

Manukyan's victory represents a major milestone for Armenian sport. Before his triumph, no gymnast representing independent Armenia had ever won a gold medal in the pommel horse event at the senior World Championships.

Despite his young age, Manukyan had already established himself on the international stage. He is a two-time junior world champion and won gold at the senior European Championships in Leipzig in 2025.

For Mamikon Khachatryan, the bronze medal in Rotterdam marked another major achievement. Just a year earlier, he had won silver on the same apparatus at the 2025 World Championships in Jakarta.

Armenia last celebrated a gold medal at the senior World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in 2022, when Artur Davtyan became world champion in the vault event in Liverpool, earning the country's first world gymnastics gold since independence.

Four years later, Hamlet Manukyan repeated his senior teammate's historic achievement, becoming the second artistic gymnastics world champion in the history of independent Armenia.

Winning two medals in a single final further demonstrated the strength and quality of Armenia's gymnastics program.

On the same day, Artur Avetisyan also claimed a bronze medal in the still rings event.