Kakhi Kakhiashvili

Kakhi Kakhiashvili (Georgian: კახი კახიაშვილი, Greek: Ακάκιος "Κάχι" Κακιασβίλης; born 13 July 1969 in Tskhinvali, Georgian SSR, USSR) is a Georgian-Greek weightlifter, one of only five weightlifters to have won three consecutive gold medals at Olympic Games. He won his first at Barcelona 1992, competing with the Unified Team, and later as a citizen of Greece at Atlanta 1996 and in Sydney 2000.[1] He won three Senior World Championships (1995, 1998, 1999), was twice a silver medalist at the Senior World Championships (1993 and 1994), and set seven world records during his career.[2] He was named the 1996 and 1999 Greek Male Athlete of the Year.

Akakios Kakiasvilis
Personal information
Birth nameKakhi Kakhiashvili
NationalityGeorgian / Greek
Born (1969-07-13) 13 July 1969
Tskhinvali, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Sport
SportWeightlifting
Medal record
Men's weightlifting
Representing  Georgia
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1993 Melbourne –91 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1993 Sofia –91 kg
Silver medal – second place 1994 Sokolov –91 kg
Representing the  Unified Team
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1992 Barcelona –90 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1992 Szekszard –90 kg
Representing  Greece
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta –99 kg
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney –94 kg
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1994 Istanbul –91 kg
Gold medal – first place 1995 Guangzhou –99 kg
Gold medal – first place 1998 Lahti –94 kg
Gold medal – first place 1999 Athens –94 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1995 Warsaw –91 kg
Gold medal – first place 1996 Stavanger –99 kg
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Riesa –94 kg
Silver medal – second place 1999 Lacoruna –94 kg

Kakhiashvili was born in Tskhinvali, Georgia, to a Georgian father and a Greek mother, Maria Lamprianidi. He is renowned in weightlifting circles for his uncanny ability to lift exactly what was required to win. Dubbed as a "computer" by some competitors, he also had the ability to block out everything that was not relevant to the competition at hand.

Career

At the 1992 Summer Olympics lifting for the Unified Team in the 90 kg category, he went against the instructions of his coach Vasily Alexeev, the all-time weightlifting great. His coach wanted his Russian teammate Sergey Syrtsov to win the contest and did not let Kakhiashvili try to lift heavier to beat the Russian. During the snatch portion of the competition, it looked like Sergey Syrtsov was going to win, with a 12.5 kg lead over Kakhiashvili from an Olympic Record 190.0 kg snatch. During the clean & jerk portion of the competition Kakhiashvili lifted 225.0 kg on his second attempt, giving him a total of 402.5 kg, a full 10.0 kg less than Syrstov. Kakhi ordered 10 kg more to be put on the bar in order to beat his Russian teammate. He successfully lifted the 235.0 kg clean and jerk,[3] giving him a total of 412.5 kg. Event though his total tied Syrstov, Kakhiashvili won the gold medal due to virtue of a lighter bodyweight,[4] (89.25 kg vs. 89.45 kg) this performance established his right to the title of one of the sports elite lifters.[5]

Major results

[6][7]

Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank
Olympic Games
1992Spain Barcelona, Spain–90 kg170.0175.0177.52220.0225.0235.0 =WR1412.5 =OR1st place, gold medalist(s)
1996United States Atlanta, United States–99 kg180.0185.0187.53220.0225.0235.0 WR1420.0 WR1st place, gold medalist(s)
2000Australia Sydney, Australia–94 kg180.0185.0187.52220.0——3405.01st place, gold medalist(s)
2004Greece Athens, Greece–94 kg180.0180.0185.04220.0220.0220.0———
World Championships
1993Australia Melbourne, Australia–91 kg175.0180.0180.03rd place, bronze medalist(s)200.0215.0225.01st place, gold medalist(s)402.52nd place, silver medalist(s)
1994Turkey Istanbul, Turkey–91 kg172.5177.5180.03rd place, bronze medalist(s)210.0220.0230.02nd place, silver medalist(s)397.52nd place, silver medalist(s)
1995China Guangzhou, China–99 kg182.5182.5187.53rd place, bronze medalist(s)225.0227.5230.01st place, gold medalist(s)410.01st place, gold medalist(s)
1998Finland Lahti, Finland–94 kg175.0180.0182.53rd place, bronze medalist(s)215.0220.0—1st place, gold medalist(s)400.01st place, gold medalist(s)
1999Greece Athens, Greece–94 kg180.0185.0188.0 WR1st place, gold medalist(s)222.5225.0230.51st place, gold medalist(s)412.5 WR[8][a]1st place, gold medalist(s)
European Championships
1992Hungary Szekszárd, Hungary–90 kg175.03rd place, bronze medalist(s)225.01st place, gold medalist(s)400.01st place, gold medalist(s)
1993Bulgaria Sofia, Bulgaria–91 kg180.01st place, gold medalist(s)222.51st place, gold medalist(s)402.51st place, gold medalist(s)
1994Czech Republic Sokolov, Czech Republic–91 kg180.03rd place, bronze medalist(s)200.02nd place, silver medalist(s)400.02nd place, silver medalist(s)
1995Poland Warsaw, Poland–91 kg180.01st place, gold medalist(s)228.5 WR1st place, gold medalist(s)407.51st place, gold medalist(s)
1996Norway Stavanger, Norway–99 kg165.0170.0175.03rd place, bronze medalist(s)210.0222.5—1st place, gold medalist(s)392.51st place, gold medalist(s)
1998Germany Riesa, Germany–94 kg165.0170.0172.54207.5210.0212.53rd place, bronze medalist(s)380.03rd place, bronze medalist(s)
1999Spain A Coruña, Spain–94 kg172.5177.5180.03rd place, bronze medalist(s)217.5222.5225.01st place, gold medalist(s)402.52nd place, silver medalist(s)
2003Greece Loutraki, Greece–94 kg167.5175.0177.55——————
2004Ukraine Kyiv, Ukraine–94 kg172.5177.5177.56215.0215.0220.04392.54
Junior World Championships
1988Greece Athens, Greece–82.5 kg170.01st place, gold medalist(s)NANANANA
1989United States Fort Lauderdale, United States–90 kg170.02nd place, silver medalist(s)225.0 JWR1st place, gold medalist(s)395.01st place, gold medalist(s)

Notes
  • a Not a world record at the time of the competition, became a world record when IWF decided to eliminate the world standards from the list of World Records on 24 June 2008.[9]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Akakios Kakiasvili". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  2. Akakide Kakhiashvilis @ Lift Up Hall of Fame. Lift Up. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  3. "Kakhi Kakhiashvili 1992 Olympics Barcelona Gold". All Things Gym. 20 December 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  4. "Olympic Profile". Olympic.org. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  5. Randall J. Strossen. (21 July 2009). Kakhi Kakhiashvili: David Versus Goliath in the Weightlifting World. IronMind. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  6. "Kakiasvilis Akakios (GRE)". Database Weightlifting (in German).
  7. "World Championships Juniors 1997-2007 and Statistics" (PDF). pp. 84, 100.
  8. "International Weightlifting Federation (IWF.NET)". Archived from the original on 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2014-11-16. iwf.net. Retrieved on 2009-06-13
  9. "IWF eliminates World Standards from World Record list". International Weightlifting Federation. 24 June 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
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