Arsen Kasabiev ( ka, არსენ კასაბიევი; ; born 15 November 1987 in

Tskhinvali Tskhinvali ( ka, ცხინვალი ) or Tskhinval (, ; , ) is the capital of the disputed ''de facto'' independent Republic of South Ossetia, internationally considered part of Shida Kartli, Georgia (except by Russia and four other UN m ...

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

) is a Polish- Georgian weightlifter of Ossetian origin. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

he placed 14th. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

he originally placed fourth, but due to the doping failure of Ilya Ilyin and Khadzhimurat Akkaev, he placed second. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

PR China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

he initially gained attention for being from South Ossetia due to the

2008 South Ossetia war The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia,Occasionally, the war is also referred to by other names, such as the Five-Day War and August War. was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the ...

. He publicly announced that he no longer wanted to represent Georgia and moved to Poland afterwards. He was granted Polish citizenship in December 2009; he now represents Poland. He represented Poland at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, in the event Weightlifting Men's 94 kg. He did not finish, owing to an injury.

References

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* * * * * 1987 births Living people Polish male weightlifters Male weightlifters from Georgia (country) Olympic weightlifters for Poland Olympic weightlifters for Georgia (country) Weightlifters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2008 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2012 Summer Olympics Naturalized citizens of Poland Polish people of Ossetian descent Emigrants from Georgia (country) to Poland European Weightlifting Championships medalists Polish people of Georgian descent Olympic medalists in weightlifting Olympic silver medalists for Georgia (country) Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Tskhinvali 21st-century Polish sportsmen {{Poland-weightlifting-bio-stub