The Most Famous
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 56.37, Shota Chochishvili is the most famous Georgian Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 18 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. Avtandil Koridze (1935 - 1966)
With an HPI of 53.99, Avtandil Koridze is the 2nd most famous Georgian Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Avtandil Georgievich Koridze (Georgian: ავთანდილ ქორიძე; 15 April 1935 – 11 April 1966) was a lightweight Greco-Roman wrestler from Georgia who won an Olympic gold medal in 1960 and a world title in 1961. He never won a Soviet title, placing second in 1957 and 1960 and third in 1958. Koridze took up wrestling in 1949 and in 1957 was included to the Soviet national team. He retired in 1961 and died five years later in a car crash, together with a fellow Olympic wrestler Roman Dzeneladze.
3. Vakhtang Blagidze (b. 1954)
With an HPI of 51.33, Vakhtang Blagidze is the 3rd most famous Georgian Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Vakhtang Blagidze (Georgian: ვახტანგ ბლაგიძე ; born July 23, 1954) is a wrestler from Ozurgeti, Georgia. He was Olympic gold medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1980, competing for the Soviet Union. He won gold medals at the 1978 and 1981 World Wrestling Championships.
4. Ilias Iliadis (b. 1986)
With an HPI of 51.16, Ilias Iliadis is the 4th most famous Georgian Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.
Ilias Iliadis (Greek: Ηλίας Ηλιάδης, born Jarji Zviadauri, Georgian: ჯარჯი ზვიადაური, on 10 November 1986) is a Georgian-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 Olympics. 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. Shota Khabareli (b. 1958)
With an HPI of 50.10, Shota Khabareli is the 5th most famous Georgian Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 16 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.
6. David Khakhaleishvili (1971 - 2021)
With an HPI of 49.75, David Khakhaleishvili is the 6th most famous Georgian Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 20 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.
7. Otar Tushishvili (b. 1978)
With an HPI of 46.59, Otar Tushishvili is the 7th most famous Georgian Wrestler. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Otar Tushishvili (born 14 June 1978 in Gori) is a Georgian wrestler, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
8. Lasha Shavdatuashvili (b. 1992)
With an HPI of 46.48, Lasha Shavdatuashvili is the 8th most famous Georgian Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 36 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.
9. Zurab Zviadauri (b. 1981)
With an HPI of 46.18, Zurab Zviadauri is the 9th most famous Georgian Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 23 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.
10. Manuchar Kvirkvelia (b. 1978)
With an HPI of 46.04, Manuchar Kvirkvelia is the 10th most famous Georgian Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Manuchar Kvirkvelia (Georgian: მანუჩარ კვირკველია; born on October 12, 1978) is a retired Georgian Greco-Roman wrestler and politician, an Olympic champion and a member of the Parliament of Georgia since 2008.
People
Pantheon has 40 people classified as Georgian wrestlers born between 1935 and 2000. Of these 40, 37 (92.50%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Georgian wrestlers include Vakhtang Blagidze, Ilias Iliadis, and Shota Khabareli. The most famous deceased Georgian wrestlers include Shota Chochishvili, Avtandil Koridze, and David Khakhaleishvili. As of April 2024, 1 new Georgian wrestlers have been added to Pantheon including Beka Gviniashvili.
Living Georgian Wrestlers
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Vakhtang Blagidze
1954 - Present
HPI: 51.33
Ilias Iliadis
1986 - Present
HPI: 51.16
Shota Khabareli
1958 - Present
HPI: 50.10
Otar Tushishvili
1978 - Present
HPI: 46.59
Lasha Shavdatuashvili
1992 - Present
HPI: 46.48
Zurab Zviadauri
1981 - Present
HPI: 46.18
Manuchar Kvirkvelia
1978 - Present
HPI: 46.04
Giorgi Gogshelidze
1979 - Present
HPI: 45.76
Revaz Mindorashvili
1976 - Present
HPI: 45.73
Akaki Chachua
1969 - Present
HPI: 45.68
Lasha Bekauri
2000 - Present
HPI: 44.86
Farid Mansurov
1982 - Present
HPI: 44.86
Deceased Georgian Wrestlers
Go to all RankingsShota Chochishvili
1950 - 2009
HPI: 56.37
Avtandil Koridze
1935 - 1966
HPI: 53.99
David Khakhaleishvili
1971 - 2021
HPI: 49.75
