Shalva Konstantinovich Chikhladze (12 July 1912 – 14 January 1997) was 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, ...

light-heavyweight wrestler from Georgia. He won a silver medal in the Greco-Roman light-heavyweight division at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

. Chikhladze became interested in wrestling in 1920, and started training in a club in 1930, when he moved from Kutaisi to Tbilisi. In 1935 he moved to Moscow and placed second at the Soviet championships; he won the championships in 1936 and finished third in 1937 and 1941. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was wounded in action near

Kaluga Kaluga ( rus, Калу́га, p=kɐˈɫuɡə), a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast in Russia, stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population: Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiol ...

in late 1941. In March 1942 he was released from hospital and discharged with honors from the army. He then collected three more Soviet wrestling titles in 1946, 1949 and 1950, and was selected for the 1952 Olympics, despite being 40 years old. Chikhladze won a silver medal, losing the final to Kelpo Gröndahl 1:2, and retired from competitions. Later he coached wrestlers in his native Georgia.

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Biography of Shalva Chikhladze
1912 births 1997 deaths Sportspeople from Kutaisi People from Kutais Governorate Male sport wrestlers from Georgia (country) Soviet male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for the Soviet Union Wrestlers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Russian male sport wrestlers Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics {{USSR-Olympic-medalist-stub