IWF120y/49 – 2000: Kakhi Kakhiashvili completes the Olympic treble

Born in July 1969 in Georgia, Kakhi Kakhiashvili’s career reflected the turbulent times of the Soviet Union’s dissolution in the first years of the 1990s. With a Georgian father and Greek mother, Kakhiashvili starts practicing weightlifting at the age of 11, much against the opinion of his parents (as he had already broken his two arms). But the young boy remains determined and results appear quickly – in 1988, he wins his first gold, at the World Junior Championships. In 1992, in Barcelona, he participates in his first Olympics (in the 90kg category), competing for the Unified Team (a sports entity created then, to assemble the ex-Soviet republics), and is trained by the legendary Vasily Alekseyev. In a time when national sensibilities were high, Alekseyev tried to promote his Russian protégé Sergei Syrtsov to the gold medal (to the detriment of the Georgian champion), but Kakhiashvili decided otherwise: in the Clean & Jerk portion of the competition, he lifts 235kg and despite the tie with Syrtsov, he gets the title as he was lighter than his Russian opponent. With a Total of 412.5kg (Snatch of 177.5), Kakhiashvili wins the first of his three Olympic titles. Until 1994, he still represents Georgia, but moves to Greece in that year, where he finds more favourable training conditions. In Atlanta 1996, under the Hellenic flag, he gets his second gold, in the 99kg category, lifting 185-235-420. Four years later, in Sydney 2000, he completes the treble, with a 185-220-405 performance in the 94kg. He had entered the very restricted club of the lifters with three Olympic gold medals, after Naim Suleymanoglu (TUR, 1988-1996) and Pyrros Dimas (GRE), who had achieved the same feat one day earlier. Throughout his amazing career, Kakhiashvili (nowadays President of the Georgian Weightlifting Federation) amassed three world titles and was crowned four times European champion. He also established seven World Records until his retirement, in 2004.