Mikheil Kajaia ( ka, მიხეილ ქაჯაია; sr-cyr, Михаил Каџаја, Mihail Kadžaja) 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 ...

-born

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...

wrestler.

Career

Representing Georgia, Kajaia participated in the

2013 Summer Universiade The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (russian: XXVII Летняя Универсиада), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 un ...

and he won the bronze medal in the 96 kg event. He was part of the Georgian Wrestling Team at the

2015 European Games The 2015 European Games, also known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015 European Games ( az, Bakı 2015 Avropa Oyunları), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic ...

but lost to Italian Daigoro Timoncini at the 1/8 finals. In 2017, Kajaia started to wrestle for Serbia. He entered the

2017 European Wrestling Championships The 2017 European Wrestling Championships was held in Novi Sad, Serbia, from 2 to 7 May 2017. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle * The winner of the silver medal in the 97 kg category, Anzor Boltukayev from Russia, was ...

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

, Serbia but defeated by the Olympic champion

Artur Aleksanyan Artur Aleksanyan ( hy, Արթուր Ալեքսանյան, born 21 October 1991) is an Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler. He is an Olympic Champion (2016) as well as silver medalist (2021) and bronze medalist (2012), a four-time World Champion (2014 ...

in the second round. One year later, he won his first European medal, a silver, in

Kaspiysk Kaspiysk (russian: Каспи́йск; lbe, Ккасппи; av, Каспиялъухъ) is a city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea, southeast of Makhachkala. The 2010 Russian census recorded the city as being the f ...

, Russia. He reached the final at 97 kg but lost to Artur Aleksanyan again with a score of 0-7. At the

2018 Mediterranean Games The 2018 Mediterranean Games ( es, Juegos Mediterráneos de 2018), officially known as the XVIII Mediterranean Games ( es, XVIII Juegos Mediterráneos) and commonly known as Tarragona 2018, was an international multi-sport event held from 22 Jun ...

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

, Spain, he lost to the eventual champion, Frenchman

Mélonin Noumonvi Mélonin Noumonvi (born 10 October 1982 in Paris) is a French Greco-Roman (under 84 kg) wrestler. At the Beijing 2008 Olympics, he lost to the eventual champion Andrea Minguzzi of Italy in the round of 16 and lost the bronze medal bout t ...

, in the semifinals but still successfully grabbed a bronze medal. Kajaia later won his first world bronze medal in

Budapest 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 ...

, Hungary. In the bronze-medal match, Kajaia faced former world champion and home favourite Balázs Kiss. Kajaia trailed 0-3 after the first period but managed a turnaround by winning on criteria with a four-point arm throw. In April 2021, he competed in the 97 kg event at the

2021 European Wrestling Championships The 2021 European Wrestling Championships was held from 19 to 25 April 2021 in Warsaw, Poland. 428 athletes from 36 countries competed for continental gold at the European Championship. There were 168 Greco-Roman tournament entries, 155 freestyle ...

held in Warsaw, Poland. He competed in the men's 97 kg event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

held in Tokyo, Japan. In 2022, he competed at the

Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2022 The Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2022 was a wrestling event held in Ostia (Rome), Ostia, Rome, Italy between 22 and 25 of June 2022. The third United World Wrestling Ranking Series event of the year, it featured multiple List of World and Olympi ...

held in Rome, Italy. He competed in the 97kg event at the

2022 World Wrestling Championships The 2022 World Wrestling Championships was the 17th edition of the World Wrestling Championships of combined events and was held between 10 and 18 September 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia. The UWW Bureau approved the candidature of Belgrade, Serbia ...

held in Belgrade, Serbia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kajaia, Mikheil 1989 births Living people People from Imereti Serbian people of Georgian descent Serbian male sport wrestlers World Wrestling Championships medalists Universiade medalists in wrestling Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Serbia Mediterranean Games medalists in wrestling Competitors at the 2018 Mediterranean Games Universiade medalists for Georgia (country) Wrestlers at the 2019 European Games European Games competitors for Serbia European Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Naturalized citizens of Serbia Wrestlers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic wrestlers of Serbia