Omar Pkhakadze ( ka, ომარ ფხაკაძე, russian: Омар Пхакадзе; 12 August 1944 – 21 May 1993) was a

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

n sprint cyclist. He competed for the

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 ...

at the 1964, 1968, and 1972 Olympics and finished in fourth and third place in 1968 and 1972, respectively, winning the first Soviet Olympic medal in sprint cycling. In 1965 he also became the first Soviet sprinter to win a world title; he finished third in 1966 and second in 1969. During his career he won 10 national titles – in 1963, 1964 and 1966–1973. He was born in a poor family; his father was handicapped in war and died when Phakadze was 15, leaving his wife with four children. The same year, Phakadze started training in cycling. He retired after the 1972 Olympics and worked as a cycling coach, training the Soviet team between 1978 and 1984 and becoming the first president of the Georgian Cycling Federation. He married Donara Dzhanukashvili (russian: Донара Джанукашвили), a former competitive gymnast. In 1987 he and Georgian Olympic wrestler

Levan Tediashvili Levan Tediashvili ( ka, ლევან თედიაშვილი; born 15 March 1948 in Gegmoubani, Georgian SSR) is a former Soviet (Georgian) wrestler and Olympic champion in Freestyle wrestling in 1972 and 1976. He remained undefeated b ...

played two heroes in the historical Georgian film ''Khareba da Gogia''. The film director

Georgiy Shengelaya Giorgi Shengelaia ( ka, გიორგი შენგელაია; russian: Гео́ргий Никола́евич Шенгела́я; 11 May 1937 – 17 February 2020) was a Georgian and Soviet film director. He directed 14 films since 196 ...

chose them instead of professional actors for their athleticism, charisma and energy required for these roles; their assistants in the film were also played by sportsmen, world champions in wrestling.

References

1944 births 1993 deaths Male cyclists from Georgia (country) Soviet male cyclists Olympic cyclists for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Cyclists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Kutaisi Olympic medalists in cycling Olympic cyclists for Georgia (country) Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics {{USSR-cycling-bio-stub