Armenian football legend Nikita Simonyan, who celebrated his 99th birthday on October 12, has become the oldest living Olympic champion following the passing of French cyclist Charles Coste, reports championat.com.
Simonyan earned gold with the USSR football team at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and remains one of the most respected figures in the history of Armenian and Soviet football with a legacy that spans both global sport and Armenian football.
With the passing of Charles Coste — the 1948 London Olympic cycling champion, who died at the age of 101 — Simonyan now holds the distinction of being the world’s oldest living Olympic champion.
Born on October 12, 1926, in Armavir (then North Caucasus Krai, USSR), Simonyan was raised in a family with deep roots in the Armenian diaspora. He began his youth football career with Dinamo Sukhumi before moving to Moscow in 1946 to join Krylia Sovetov Moscow. In 1949, he signed with Spartak Moscow, where over a decade he made 233 league appearances and scored 133 goals — becoming the club’s all-time top scorer.
He topped the Soviet Top League’s goal-scoring charts three times (1949, 1950, 1953) and helped Spartak win league titles in 1952, 1953, 1956, and 1958, along with Soviet Cup victories in 1950 and 1958.
Internationally, Simonyan earned 20 caps for the USSR national team between 1954 and 1958, scoring 10 goals. At the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, he was part of the gold-medal-winning team. He also captained the USSR squad at the 1958 FIFA World Cup when the regular captain was injured.
Beyond his playing days, Simonyan made a lasting mark in Armenian football, coaching Yerevan’s Ararat club from 1973 to 1974 and leading the team to an unprecedented double — winning both the USSR Championship and Cup. He later returned to manage the club again in 1984–1985.
He also coached Spartak Moscow from 1960 to 1965 and again from 1967 to 1972, as well as the USSR national team during multiple spells, maintaining his influence in Soviet and Russian football long after retiring as a player.
Simonyan went on to serve in senior administrative roles, including Vice President and Acting President of the Russian Football Union (RFU), extending his contribution to the sport far beyond the pitch. His achievements have been recognized with numerous state honors, including Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR (1954), Honoured Coach of the RSFSR (1968), Merited Coach of the USSR (1970), and the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland” (4th Class) in 2011.
Simonyan’s leadership of Ararat remains one of the proudest chapters in Armenian sports history, symbolizing national excellence during the Soviet era. For the Armenian sporting community, he stands as a beacon — a figure whose career illustrates Armenian excellence in Soviet-era sport and the ongoing legacy of diaspora achievement.
