Tsolak Yeghishyan — a Colorado Springs cab driver and wrestling champion — became an American on Monday, a few days too late for him to try out for the 2008 U.S. Olympic wrestling team.
“From Day One, I’ve been dreaming about representing the U.S. in the Olympics,” he said just before he was sworn in at the offices of the U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services in Denver. “But this is for my heritage. This is for my ancestors.”
The 37-year-old is one of thousands of immigrants nationwide who got caught up in a government background-check backlog that delayed his path to citizenship.
Yeghishyan came to the U.S. in 1996 and became a legal resident in 1999. He applied for citizenship in 2004.
He passed his civics test and learned English by watching television and reading books.
But the naturalization process had become tedious so his lawyer, Beverly Oserow, filed a lawsuit last summer in U.S. District Court in Denver against the government in order to expedite his naturalization.
On Thursday, he found out that his lifelong wish to live as an American was coming true.
“It should have been a long time ago,” said Mary LeNoue, one of several friends who showed up to celebrate at Yeghishyan’s swearing-in ceremony.
“He’ll be fabulous,” LeNoue said when asked what kind of citizen Yeghishyan might be. “He is very conscientious.”
Yeghishyan, who placed ninth at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta while on the Armenian wrestling team, was ineligible to try out for the U.S. team unless he was a citizen. Given his age, he was no sure bet to make the team, though he hoped to try.
Although he is disappointed that he missed out on the opportunity, he is elated that he is an American and his attention is now on bringing his pregnant wife, Lilit, and 14-month-old daughter, Helena, to the U.S.
“My family is partying,” he said as he held onto a small American flag and his certificate of citizenship.
Oserow said it could take another three to four years before his family can join him in Colorado Springs.
Yeghishyan still intends to wrestle for the U.S., even though it won’t be for the 2008 Games in Beijing.
“Now, with God’s grace, I will be healthy enough for next year’s U.S. Nationals,” he said.
By the 2012 Olympic trials, Yeghishyan will be 41 years old, an advanced age for an athlete. But Yeghishyan has hope because he has overcome many hardships in his lifetime, including surviving a deadly earthquake in Armenia in 1988.
“Maybe I will do it,” he said of trying out in 2012.
For now, Yeghishyan is just proud to be an American.
“I accomplished something big on my own,” he said. “It’s very uplifting and a huge sense of responsibility.”
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
