Davyd Bichinashvili ( ka, დავით ბიჩინაშვილი; born February 3, 1975, in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

, Georgian SSR,

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

) is an amateur Georgian-born German freestyle wrestler, who played for the men's light heavyweight category. He is a three-time Olympian, and a four-time medalist for his division at the

European Wrestling Championships The European Wrestling Championships is the second oldest international wrestling competition of the modern world and the main wrestling championships in Europe. It predates World Wrestling Championships and other regional wrestling championships ...

(1997, 1998, 2001, and 2008).

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

(1997 in

Warsaw, Poland Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-cen ...

, 1998 in Bratislava, Slovakia, and 2001 in

Budapest, Hungary Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population of ...

), representing his first adopted nation

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Bichinashvili made his official debut for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, 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 Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where he applied and obtained a dual citizenship in order to compete internationally for wrestling. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, 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 Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

. He had exactly finished the same position as his previous Olympics in the preliminary pool round, against Cuba's

Yoel Romero Yoel Romero Palacio (born April 30, 1977) is a Cuban professional mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division for Bellator MMA. Romero formerly competed in the Middleweight division ...

and Guam's Jeffrey Cobb, attaining a total score of 10 technical and 4 classification points. 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 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, by placing seventh from the

2007 World Wrestling Championships The 2007 World Wrestling Championships were held at the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Concert Complex in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event took place from September 17 to September 23, 2007. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's ...

in Baku, Azerbaijan. 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. Because his opponent advanced further into the final match, Bichinashvili took advantage of the repechage rounds by defeating Armenia's

Harutyun Yenokyan Harutyun Yenokyan ( hy, Հարություն Ենոքյան, born 5 July 1985) is an Armenian Freestyle wrestler. Yenokyan competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the men's freestyle 84 kg division. He qualified by placing third at the Oly ...

, after the pair had scored 4–3. He progressed to the bronze medal match, but narrowly lost the medal to Russia's

Georgy Ketoev Georgy Ketoyev ( os, Четиты Важайы фырт Геуæрги; born 19 November 1985 in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR) is a Russian naturalized Armenian freestyle wrestler of Ossetian descent. He won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summe ...

, with a three-set technical score (0–3, 2–0, 2–2), and a classification point score of 1–3.

References

External links

Profile – International Wrestling Database
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bichinashvili, Davyd Ukrainian male sport wrestlers 1975 births Living people Olympic wrestlers of Ukraine Olympic wrestlers of Germany Wrestlers at the 2000 Summer Olympics German male sport wrestlers Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Tbilisi Sportspeople from Freiburg im Breisgau Georgian emigrants to Germany German people of Georgian descent Ukrainian people of Georgian descent