 He competed against Peter Wenzel of East Germany, one of the top middleweights in the world, twice that year and defeated him both times.Also that same year Vardanyan also won the Championship of the USSR for the first time.Vardanyan had set all the world records in the division by the time of the Weightlifting European Championships at the age of 20 and became a Weightlifting World Champion for the first time at the age of 21.