Levan Tediashvili ( ka, ლევან თედიაშვილი; 15 March 1948 – 17 February 2024) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and Georgian

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

and Olympic champion in

Freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

in 1972 and 1976. He remained undefeated between 1971 and 1976. Besides freestyle wrestling, he was also a Soviet and world champion in sambo.

Olympics

Tediashvili won gold medal at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

in the ''middleweight'' class."1972 Summer Olympics – München, Germany – Wrestling"
''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on 13 September 2008) At the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

he received gold medal in the ''light heavyweight'' class."1976 Summer Olympics – Montreal, Canada – Wrestling"
''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on 13 September 2008) While winning these titles, he defeated two brothers, John Peterson in 1972 and Ben Peterson in 1976. John won a gold medal in 1976 and Ben won a gold medal in 1972, in the weight categories where Tediashvili did not compete.

World and European championships

Tediashvili won a gold medal in the ''82 kg class'' at the

1971 FILA Wrestling World Championships The 1971 World Wrestling Championships were held in Sofia, Bulgaria from 27 August to 5 September 1971. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Freestyle Greco-Roman References External linksUWW Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:1971 Fila Wre ...

, and gold medals in the ''90 kg class'' in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

and

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. At the 1978 FILA Wrestling World Championships he received a silver medal in the ''100 kg class''. He also won European titles in 1974, 1976 and 1978.

Biography and awards

Tediashvili was born to a Georgian father, invalid of World War II, and a Russian mother, who moved to Georgia with her other son Herman after her husband was killed in World War II. Herman also became wrestler and then worked as wrestling coach in

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

. Tediashvili was selected among the Soviet Union top ten athletes of the year in 1973 by the Federation of Sports Journalists of the USSR. In 1976, he was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

. In 1987, he and Georgian Olympic cyclist Omar Pkhakadze played two heroes in the historical Georgian film ''Khareba da Gogia''. The film director Georgiy Shengelaya 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. Tediashvili fought in the Abkhazian War, along with his son, who was killed in the conflict. From 1995 to 2003, he was a parliamentary deputy from a district of

Kakheti Kakheti (; ) is a region of Georgia. Telavi is its administrative center. The region comprises eight administrative districts: Telavi, Gurjaani, Qvareli, Sagarejo, Dedoplistsqaro, Signagi, Lagodekhi and Akhmeta. Kakhetians speak the ...

. In 2021, Tediashvili played the starring role of a former wrestling champion in Levan Koguashvili's feature film '' Brighton 4th'', for which he was awarded Best Actor at the 2021

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

, and Outstanding Individual Performance at FilmFestival Cottbus 2021. Tediashvili died on 17 February 2024, at the age of 75.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tediashvili, Levan 1948 births 2024 deaths Martial artists from Kakheti Soviet male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for the Soviet Union Wrestlers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Male sport wrestlers from Georgia (country) Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in wrestling World Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Recipients of the Presidential Order of Excellence Military personnel from Georgia (country) Members of the Parliament of Georgia

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Recipients of the Order of Lenin Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR European Wrestling Championships medalists European Wrestling Champions