WRESTLERS from Georgia

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Georgian Wrestlers of all time. This list of famous Georgian Wrestlers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Georgian Wrestlers.

1. Shota Chochishvili (1950 - 2009)

With an HPI of 46.82, Shota Chochishvili is the most famous Georgian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.

Shota Samsonovich Chochishvili (Georgian: შოთა ჩოჩიშვილი, Russian: Шота Самсонович Чочишвили; 10 July 1950 – 27 August 2009) was a Georgian professional wrestler and judoka.

2. David Khakhaleishvili (1971 - 2021)

With an HPI of 40.35, David Khakhaleishvili is the 2nd most famous Georgian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

David Rostomovich Khakhaleishvili (Georgian: დავით როსტომის ძე ხახალეიშვილი; 28 February 1971 – 11 January 2021) was a heavyweight Georgian judoka, mixed martial artist and Olympic gold medalist. He was born in Kutaisi.

3. Shota Khabareli (1958 - )

With an HPI of 38.80, Shota Khabareli is the 3rd most famous Georgian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Shota Khabareli (Georgian: შოთა ხაბარელი; born 26 December 1958) is a Georgian judoka who competed for the Soviet Union at the 1980 Summer Olympics, where he won the gold medal in the half-middleweight class. Khabareli was a bronze medallist in the 1983 World Championships in Moscow and two times silver medalist in the European Championships; first in Brussels 1979 and again in Rostock 1982. Khabareli also won continental bronze medals in Debrecen 1981 and Paris 1983. Khabareli was a champion of the international tournaments in Warsaw in 1978 and Hungary in 1979. He was also a silver medalist in Budapest in 1985 and bronze medallist of the Jigoro Kano Cup in Tokyo in 1982. Khabareli is famous for the knee lift throw, also known in sumo as yagura nage.

4. Ilias Iliadis (1986 - )

With an HPI of 38.38, Ilias Iliadis is the 4th most famous Georgian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Ilias Iliadis (Greek: Ηλίας Ηλιάδης, born Jarji Zviadauri, Georgian: ჯარჯი ზვიადაური, on 10 November 1986) is a Georgian-born Greek judoka. He was named the 2014 Greek Male Athlete of the Year. He won a gold medal in the half-middleweight (81 kg) division at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens at age 17. Illiadis also won a gold medal 6 years later at the 2010 World Judo Championships in Tokyo in the −90 kg category. As Greece's flagbearer, he had the honour of being the first athlete to march into the Bird's Nest Stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Iliadis is a cousin of another Olympic champion, Georgian judoka Zurab Zviadauri, who also won gold at the 2004 Summer Olympic games. Iliadis's family moved to Greece in 2003. He was adopted by Nikos Iliadis. Since November 2019 Iliadis works as head coach for the Uzbek national team.

5. Lasha Shavdatuashvili (1992 - )

With an HPI of 34.87, Lasha Shavdatuashvili is the 5th most famous Georgian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Lasha Shavdatuashvili (Georgian: ლაშა შავდათუაშვილი; born 31 January 1992) is a Georgian judoka. Shavdatuashvili is one of the most successful judoka of the early 21st century, having won Olympic medals at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics as well as a dozen medals on the IJF World Tour.

6. Revaz Mindorashvili (1976 - )

With an HPI of 34.02, Revaz Mindorashvili is the 6th most famous Georgian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Revaz Mindorashvili (Georgian: რევაზ მინდორაშვილი, born July 1, 1976) is a Georgian wrestler, who has won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

7. Farid Mansurov (1982 - )

With an HPI of 33.34, Farid Mansurov is the 7th most famous Georgian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Farid Mansurov (Azerbaijani: Fərid Mansurov) (born May 10, 1982 in Dmanisi, Georgia) is an Azerbaijani wrestler, gold medalist of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Greco-Roman wrestling at 66 kg. He retired in 2010, after conceding jaw injury during 2010 European Wrestling Championship. In 2010—2011, he coached the Azerbaijani national wrestling team. He is the head of the sport department in The Ministry of Youth and Sport of the Republic of Azerbaijan since 2016. He is also Vice President of Youth Wrestling Federation of Azerbaijan.

8. Zurab Zviadauri (1981 - )

With an HPI of 33.27, Zurab Zviadauri is the 8th most famous Georgian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Zurab Zviadauri (born 2 July 1981) is a Georgian judoka who competed in the Men's 90 kg at the 2004 Summer Olympics and won the gold medal, the first for Georgia. He is a scholarship holder with the Olympic Solidarity program. He also won two silver medals on world championships (in 2001 and in 2003) and a bronze on European championship in 2002. Zvidauri is also signed to mixed martial arts-promotion World Victory Road, but has yet to make his MMA-debut. In 2012, he was elected to the Parliament of Georgia for the Akhmeta Municipality on a Georgian Dream coalition ticket. Zviadauri is a cousin of another olympic champion, Georgian-born Greek Judoka Ilias Iliadis (born Jarji Zviadauri), who also won gold at the 2004 Summer Olympic games. Zvidauri was arrested on 17 August 2021, in connection with the murder of three people.

9. Geno Petriashvili (1994 - )

With an HPI of 33.22, Geno Petriashvili is the 9th most famous Georgian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Geno Petriashvili (გენო პეტრიაშვილი; born 1 April 1994) is a Georgian heavyweight freestyle wrestler. He is European champion in 2016 and 2020 and world champion in 2017, 2018 and 2019, as well as a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the silver medal 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

10. Irakli Tsirekidze (1982 - )

With an HPI of 32.93, Irakli Tsirekidze is the 10th most famous Georgian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Irakli Tsirekidze (Georgian: ირაკლი ცირეკიძე) (born 3 May 1982) is a Georgian judoka. On 15 September 2007, he won a gold medal at the world judo championships beating Greek Ilias Iliadis by yuko. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal with beating Algerian Amar Benikhlef in the final. He became head coach of the Georgian National Judo Team after the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.