One of the most popular Georgian athletes today is Vladimir Khinchegashvili. Freestyle wrestling brought him respect and recognition in the wrestling community. At the Olympic Games in 2012, a Georgian athlete won a silver medal, performing in the category of up to 55 kilograms. And already at the next Games he was able to win.
Athlete Biography
In 1991, Vladimir Khinchegashvili was born. Freestyle wrestling became his passion in childhood. He began to engage in this sport in his native city of Gori. Currently a member of the local sports club Dynamo. He was brought up in a small settlement almost a hundred kilometers from the capital - Tbilisi. In the very east of Georgia.
Passion and love for this sport he instilled in his father, who also engaged in freestyle wrestling. Moreover, at a fairly high level. In particular, he became the winner of the youth championships of the world and Europe.
Vladimir decided to follow in his footsteps as a child. Therefore, I did not have to worry about choosing a sports section for a long time. Among his first trainers were father Arkady and Nugzar Schireli.
The first successes in the domestic arena were not long to wait, and soon victories at the international level followed. In 2011, Vladimir Khinchegashvili won a silver medal at the European Championships. Freestyle wrestling brought him an award in the German city of Dortmund. Throughout the tournament, the Georgian athlete was stronger than opponents. Only Russian Jamal Otarsultanov could stop him in the decisive match.
Vladimir was the oldest child in the family; he also has a sister with whom he constantly maintains relations.
Olympics in London
In 2012, wrestler Vladimir Khinchegashvili first went to the Olympic Games. Georgian athlete arrived at the tournament in London. Georgia presented at the Olympics a very combat-ready team in the struggle, which eventually won 6 medals. True, not one gold among them was. Vladimir Khinchegashvili was no exception. Freestyle wrestling at the Games was presented in 7 weight categories. Khinchegashvili performed in the lightest category, among athletes no heavier than 55 kilograms.
He selected for the tournament through European qualification together with Turk Ahmet Peker. In London, the Georgian first gained the upper hand over the Egyptian Ibrahim Farah, then over the Bulgarian Radoslav Velikovs and the Indian Amit Kumar. In the semifinal match he was opposed by the eminent Japanese wrestler Sinichi Yumoto, whom Hinchegashvili defeated.
In the struggle for the gold medal, the Georgians met with the Russian Dzhamal Otarsultanov, who by that time had already won three European championships. The fight ended in favor of the Russian. Hinchegashvili Vladimir won his first Olympic medal . The fight brought him fame throughout the country.
In the overall classification at the Olympics, the Russians then became the first to win 11 medals, 4 of which were gold. Georgia became the ninth with three silver and three bronze awards.
Transfer to another weight category
In 2013, Khinchegashvili began performing in a new weight category for himself - up to 60 kilograms. The European Championship this season was held in his homeland - in Tbilisi.
It is noteworthy that in the category of up to 55 kilograms the winner was his teammate Giorgi Edisherashvili. The hero of our article reached the semifinals, where he met with Russian Opan Sat, a three-time European champion. The Georgian lost and was content with a bronze medal.
European Champion
In 2014, Vladimir Khinchegashvili began performing in the new weight category. The rules of the wrestling federation were amended, and the athlete was among the rivals no heavier than 57 kilograms.
The European Championship under the new rules was held in Vantaa, Finland. On the whole, the Georgian team rated this tournament for themselves as unsuccessful. Only two members of the national team climbed the podium. Konstantin Khabalashvili became the third in the category up to 65 kilograms, but Khinchegashvili for the first time in his career won the European Championship.
In the decisive battle, he was stronger than the fighter from Monaco Gennady Tulby, a native of Moldova.
Silver in Tashkent
Vladimir Khinchegashvili was supposed to confirm his class at the world championship. Ossetin (Vladimir has Ossetian roots) arrived to participate in the tournament among the strongest fighters of the planet in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
The tournament was a triumph for the Russian national team, which won by winning 15 medals, 6 of which were gold. In the piggy bank of the Georgian national team there was only one award. Hinchegashvili won it.
In the weight category up to 57 kilograms, he lost in the final only to the representative of the Korean People's Democratic Republic, Yang Gen Il, the bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in London.
Triumph in Las Vegas
Khinchegashvili opened a new page in his sports career in 2015, when he went to the World Cup in Las Vegas. He arrived at the tournament in the rank of one of the favorites of the championship, which each opponent had to reckon with.
This time, 24 sets of awards were played at the tournament. And there was a strict restriction - in each weight category from one country only one participant could be represented.
In the overall standings, the struggle unfolded between the Russians and the Americans, who eventually won 4 gold medals. However, the Russian national team had more awards in total (14 vs. 7), so it was she who got the first team place. The Ukrainians also excelled in the number of awards - they have 9 medals. In total, representatives of 29 states climbed the podium.
Georgians won only one gold. He was brought to the piggy bank of his team by Vladimir Khinchegashvili. He performed in the category of up to 57 kilograms. In the semifinal duel in a difficult fight, he managed to defeat the Mongol Erdenebatyn Behbayar.
Khinchegashvili played gold with Iranian Hassan Rahimi. The Georgian wrestler won the world championship for the first time.
Championship in Riga
On the eve of the next summer Olympic Games, the most important in 2016 was the European Wrestling Championship. It took place in the capital of Latvia - Riga. The Georgian team showed a brilliant result. In the team event in freestyle wrestling on points, the Georgians took first place, beating even Russian athletes.
Only in the medal standings did Georgia take second place. At the European Championship they have 9 medals, of which 3 are gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze. The Russian team has won 12 awards, 7 of which are gold, one silver and 4 bronze.
In the weight category up to 61 kilograms , Vladimir Khinchegashvili spoke. The final turned out to be difficult for him, he was opposed by the Belarusian Georgy Kaliev. After a landslide victory in the semifinals over Romanian Guidea, the Georgian met with serious resistance in a decisive match. They managed to win only by decision of the judges.
So in his piggy bank there was the second gold of the world championship for his career.
Olympics in Rio
In August 2016, Khinchegashvili went to the second Olympic Games in his sports biography. 18 sets of awards were played in the fight, for which nearly 350 athletes from all over the world entered the fray.
An excellent opportunity to confirm excellence in their weight category was the 2016 Olympic Games. Freestyle wrestling, Vladimir Khinchegashvili for many were already synonymous concepts. After failure 4 years ago, a Georgian athlete intended to take revenge.
Despite the fact that before the tournament he was called the favorite No. 1, he thoroughly prepared for each match. The most likely opponents were to be Azerbaijani Haji Aliyev, two-time world champion, Iranian Hassan Rahimi, Mongol Erdenebatyn Behbayar and North Korean Jan Gen Il. Khinchegashvili met with all of them at different stages of his career - he won and lost.
It was also impossible to discount the dark horses of the championship. Russian Viktor Lebedev, two-time world champion, Cuban Jovlis Bonnet and reigning European champion Vladimir Dubov.
Way to victory
The path to the finale was not easy, but Vladimir Khinchegashvili overcame it. The Olympics once again proved that there are no passing fights here.
In the semifinals, the Georgian fighter defeated Aliyev. But in the final, he was opposed by an athlete whom no one took seriously before the start of the tournament. Japanese Ray Higuchi.
Khinchegashvili won on points. Now in the rank of Olympic champion, he is preparing for the next starts.