Nikoloz Sherazadishvili ( ka, ნიკოლოზ შერაზადიშვილი; born 19 February 1996) is a Georgian-born, Spanish judoka.

Early life

Sherazadishvili began training in the sports of

Judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

and

Water Polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

at the age of 10, and immigrated to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

with his parents at the age of 14, he then decided to focus on Judo, where he would enter a club ran by former-Olympian, Joaquín "Quino" Ruiz, in Brunete, just outside

. Sherazadishvili was granted

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

citizenship in 2014, so he could begin competing under the Spanish flag.

Judo career

2018

In April 2018, Sherazadishvili competed at the

2018 European Judo Championships The 2018 European Judo Championships were held in Tel Aviv, Israel from 26 to 28 April 2018. Medal overview Men Women Medal table Participating nations There was a total of 368 participants from 44 nations. References Exte ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, where he would successfully win a bronze medal. He lost to

Mikhail Igolnikov Mikhail Sergeevich Igolnikov (russian: Михаил Сергеевич Игольников; born 15 October 1996) is a Russian judoka. Igolnikov competes at the -90kg category, representing Russia and is currently a two-time European Champion; ...

in the quarter-final match by ippon in 18 seconds; however, he then rebounded against

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

' judoka, Yahor Varapayeu to give Sherazadishvili his first ever senior continental medal.

2018 World Judo Championships

On 24 September 2018, Sherazadishvili qualified for his first senior world championships, which were held in Baku,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

. He would beat

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

's Blondal in his first match and rematch his former opponent and 2018 European champion,

whom he would defeat by waza-ari. In the fourth round he would defeat Turkish judoka, Mikail Ozerler and would defeat former World Champion, Asley Gonzalez in the quarter-finals; advancing Sherazadishvili to the semi-finals. Sherazadishvili met with

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

's Krisztian Toth whom he defeated by ippon and advanced to the finals against Ivan Felipe Silva. Sherazadishvili made history and became Spain's first ever world champion, when he won by ippon in the finals.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherazadishvili, Nikoloz 1996 births Living people Male judoka from Georgia (country) Spanish male judoka Sportspeople from Tbilisi Spanish people of Georgian descent World judo champions Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Spain Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Spain Mediterranean Games medalists in judo Competitors at the 2018 Mediterranean Games European Games competitors for Spain Judoka at the 2015 European Games Judoka at the 2019 European Games Judoka at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka of Spain