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Joseph Michael Almasian (born 8 March 1967) is an American bobsledder.[1] He competed in the two man event at the 1994 Winter Olympics, representing Armenia.[2][3] Along with Ken Topalian, they were the first athletes to represent Armenia at the Olympics.[4]
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 March 1967 Framingham, Massachusetts, United States |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Bobsleigh |
Almasian was born in Framingham, Massachusetts in 1967.[3] He worked as a mechanical engineer in Sherborn, Massachusetts.[1] While he as at the University of New Hampshire he was a track athlete and played soccer.[3]
Three years after Armenia had gained independence in 1991, Almasian and Ken Topalian formed a team with the aim to compete in the bobsled event at the 1994 Winter Olympics representing Armenia.[3] This included getting a second-hand bobsled from American Samoa.[1] They both attended the training centre in Lake Placid to learn how to bobsled,[3][5] being trained by Jim Hickey who had previously represented the United States at the Olympics in the event.[3] They could train for three hours each day at the weekend, using a sled from the 1960s.[1] To qualify for the Olympics, both of them gained Armenian citizenship and competed in five international races.[1]
With less than three weeks before the start of the 1994 Winter Olympics, Almasian and Topalian were given permission by the Armenian government to compete at the games.[3] They were the only athletes to represent Armenia at the 1994 Winter Olympics.[1] They finished in 36th place in the two-man event, ahead of seven other teams.[6] Neither of them competed in the event since the Olympics, and they had never been to Armenia.[3]
Almasian's participation at the Olympics was in honour of his grandparents, who escaped the Armenian genocide in 1915.[1][3]
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