Davyd Bichinashvili

Davyd Bichinashvili (Georgian: დავით ბიჩინაშვილი; born February 3, 1975 in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union) is an amateur Georgian-born German freestyle wrestler, who played for the men's light heavyweight category.[1] He is a three-time Olympian, and a four-time medalist for his division at the European Wrestling Championships (1997, 1998, 2001, and 2008).

Davyd Bichinashvili
Personal information
Nationality Ukraine
 Germany
Born (1975-02-03) 3 February 1975
Tbilisi, Georgian SSR,
Soviet Union
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight84 kg (185 lb)
Sport
SportWrestling
Event(s)Freestyle
ClubASV Mainz 88
Coached byWaldemar Galwas
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
European Championships
Representing  Ukraine
1998 Bratislava85 kg
2001 Budapest85 kg
1997 Warsaw85 kg
Representing  Germany
2008 Tampere84 kg

Wrestling career

Since he left Georgia in 1994, Bichinashvili had won a total of three medals (two silver and one bronze) for the men's light heavyweight division at the European Wrestling Championships (1997 in Warsaw, Poland, 1998 in Bratislava, Slovakia, and 2001 in Budapest, Hungary), representing his first adopted nation Ukraine. Bichinashvili made his official debut for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he placed second in the three-person preliminary pool of the men's 85 kg class, against Macedonia's Mogamed Ibragimov, and Japan's Tatsuo Kawai.

Shortly after the Olympics, Bichinashvili moved to his another adopted nation Germany, where he applied and obtained a dual citizenship in order to compete internationally for wrestling. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Bichinashvili competed for the men's 84 kg class, as a member of the German wrestling team, after winning his division from the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.[2][3] He had exactly finished the same position as his previous Olympics in the preliminary pool round, against Cuba's Yoel Romero and Guam's Jeffrey Cobb, attaining a total score of 10 technical and 4 classification points.[4]

Eight years after competing in his first Olympics, Bichinashvili qualified for his third time in men's 84 kg class, as a 33-year-old, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, by placing seventh from the 2007 World Wrestling Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.[5] He received a bye for the preliminary round of sixteen match, before losing out to Georgia's Revaz Mindorashvili, with a three-set technical score (1–4, 2–0, 3–1), and a classification score of 1–3.[6] Because his opponent advanced further into the final match, Bichinashvili took advantage of the repechage rounds by defeating Armenia's Harutyun Yenokyan, after the pair had scored 4–3. He progressed to the bronze medal match, but narrowly lost the medal to Russia's Georgy Ketoev, with a three-set technical score (0–3, 2–0, 2–2), and a classification point score of 1–3.[7][8]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Davyd Bichinashvili". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  2. Fowler, Jonathan (18 May 2004). "IOC lets over a dozen other athletes change nationalities". Associated Press. USA Today. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  3. "European Championship: Freestyle seniors 2004-02-14 Sofia (BUL) – 84.0 kg". International Wrestling Federation. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  4. "Deutsche Ringer: Aufs Kreuz gelegt Athen" [German wrestling: Players place last in Athens] (in German). Stuttgarter Nachrichten. 29 April 2006. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  5. Sesker, Craig (14 September 2007). "2007 World Championships preview at 84 kg/185 lbs. in men's freestyle wrestling". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Archived from the original on 16 August 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  6. "Men's Freestyle 84kg (185 lbs) Round of 16 Final Official". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  7. "Men's Freestyle 84kg (185 lbs) Bronze Medal Official". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  8. "Georgian Mindorashvili wins men's freestyle 84kg wrestling gold". Xinhua News Agency. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.