Leri Khabelov ( ka, ლერი ხაბელოვი, russian: Лери Габрелович Хабелов) (born 5 July 1964) is a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

politician and a retired wrestler, formerly a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Olympic champion in Freestyle wrestling. In 2012, he was elected to the

Parliament of Georgia The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members; of these, 120 are proportio ...

on a ticket of the

Georgian Dream Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia ( ka, ქართული ოცნება – დემოკრატიული საქართველო, ''Kartuli ocneba – Demok’rat’iuli Sakartvelo'') is a social democratic political ...

party.

Sport career

An ethnic Ossetian,Ossetian to Carry Georgian Flag at Olympics

Civil Georgia ''Civil Georgia'' ( ka, სივილ ჯორჯია) is a Tbilisi-based free daily news website run by Georgian NGO UN Association of Georgia. It is supported by USAID, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Swiss Agency for Development and Coope ...

. August 4, 2004. Leri Khabelov was born 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 ...

, then-

Soviet Georgia The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

in 1964. His achievements included being the Champion of the XXV Olympic Games (1992 Barcelona), second-prize winner of the XXIV Olympic Games (1988 Seoul), five-fold World Champion (1985, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993) and third-prize winner (1995), four-fold European Champion (1985, 1987, 1988, 1992), winner of the World Cup (1991), World Champion among boys (1982)and youths (1983), three-fold Champion of the USSR (1985, 1987, 1988), Champion of the IX USSR Peoples Spartaciads (1986). From 1993 to 1996, he contested for the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. For his contribution to the sports, he has been granted the title of Honored Master of Sports by the Soviet Union and the Vakhtang Gorgasali Order, 2nd Class, and the Order of Honor by Georgia. He has been a vice-president of the

Georgian National Olympic Committee The Georgian National Olympic Committee (GNOC) ( ka, საქართველოს ეროვნული ოლიმპიური კომიტეტი, ''sakartvelos erovnuli olimp'iuri k'omit'et'i'') is a Georgian national constitue ...

from 2000 to 2007 and deputy chairman of the Sports Department of Georgia from 1998 to 2004. Khabelov is the President of the Georgian National Olympic Association and National Olympians Association.

Political career

Leri Khabelov became involved in the Georgian politics in 2008, when he ran, unsuccessfully, in the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

on a ticket of the opposition

Republican Party of Georgia The Republican Party of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს რესპუბლიკური პარტია, ''sakartvelos resp'ublik'uri part'ia''), commonly known as the Republicans (რესპუბლიკელებ� ...

. In 2012, he joined the new opposition party

spearheaded by the tycoon

Bidzina Ivanishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili ( ka, ბიძინა ივანიშვილი, also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili ; born 18 February 1956) is a Georgia (country), Georgian politician, billionaire businessman and philanthropist, who serv ...

. He was elected to the Parliament in the October 1, 2012 election and became a chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Sport and Youth Affairs on October 21, 2012.Parliamentary Committees Chairpersons Elected
Civil Georgia. October 21, 2012.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khabelov, Leri 1964 births Living people Sport wrestlers from Tbilisi Soviet male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for the Soviet Union Olympic wrestlers for the Unified Team Olympic wrestlers for Russia Wrestlers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Russian male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in wrestling Members of the Parliament of Georgia Georgian Dream politicians Ossetian people World Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Presidential Order of Excellence World Wrestling Champions European Wrestling Championships medalists European Wrestling Champions