Nikoloz Sherazadishvili Sakvarelidze ( ka, ნიკოლოზ შერაზადიშვილი საყვარელიძე; born 19 February 1996) is a

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

. Born in Georgia, he competes internationally for Spain.

Early life

Sherazadishvili began training in the sports of

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

and

Water Polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

at the age of 10, and immigrated to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

with his parents at the age of 14, he then decided to focus on Judo, where he would enter a club ran by former-Olympian, Joaquín "Quino" Ruiz, in Brunete, just outside

. Sherazadishvili was granted

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

citizenship in 2014, so he could begin competing under the Spanish flag.

Judo career

2018

In April 2018, Sherazadishvili competed at the 2018 European Judo Championships in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, where he would successfully win a bronze medal. He lost to Mikhail Igolnikov in the quarter-final match by ippon in 18 seconds; however, he then rebounded against

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

' judoka, Yahor Varapayeu to give Sherazadishvili his first ever senior continental medal.

2018 World Judo Championships

On 24 September 2018, Sherazadishvili qualified for his first senior world championships, which were held in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. He would beat

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

's Blondal in his first match and rematch his former opponent and 2018 European champion, Mikhail Igolnikov whom he would defeat by waza-ari. In the fourth round he would defeat Turkish judoka, Mikail Ozerler and would defeat former World Champion, Asley Gonzalez in the quarter-finals; advancing Sherazadishvili to the semi-finals. Sherazadishvili met with

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

's Krisztian Toth whom he defeated by ippon and advanced to the finals against Ivan Felipe Silva. Sherazadishvili made history and became Spain's first ever world champion, when he won by ippon in the finals.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherazadishvili, Nikoloz 1996 births Living people Male judoka from Georgia (country) Spanish male judoka Martial artists from Tbilisi Emigrants from Georgia (country) to Spain Naturalised citizens of Spain World judo champions Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Spain Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Spain Mediterranean Games medalists in judo Judoka at the 2018 Mediterranean Games European Games competitors for Spain Judoka at the 2015 European Games Judoka at the 2019 European Games Judoka at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka for Spain Judoka at the 2022 Mediterranean Games 21st-century Spanish sportsmen