Zurabi Datunashvili ( ka, ზურაბ დათუნაშვილი, sr, / ; born 18 June 1991) is a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group **Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three script ...

-born Serbian former

Greco-Roman wrestler Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), classic wrestling (Euro English) or French wrestling (in Russia until 1948) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first mod ...

who competed in the men's middleweight category.

Career

He won a silver medal in the same weight division at the

2013 European Wrestling Championships The 2013 European Wrestling Championships were held in Tbilisi, Georgia, from 19 March to 24 March 2013. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's freestyle (*) Romanian original silver medalli ...

, coincidentally in his home city Tbilisi, losing out to defending Olympic champion

Roman Vlasov Roman Andreyevich Vlasov (russian: Роман Андреевич Власов; born 6 October 1990) is a Russian Greco-Roman wrestler. He is a two-time Olympic Champion (2012, 2016), a three-time World Champion ( 2011, 2015, 2021), and a four-t ...

of Russia. Datunashvili represented

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

at the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where he competed in the men's 74 kg class. He defeated South Korea's

Kim Jin-Hyeok Kim Jin-hyeok ( ko, 김진혁; born 15 May 1989 in North Gyeongsang Province, Gyeongsangbuk-do) is an amateur South Korean Greco-Roman wrestler, who competes in the men's middleweight category. Kim represented South Korea at the 2012 Summer Ol ...

, and United States'

Ben Provisor Ben Provisor (born June 26, 1990 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin) is an American wrestler. He won the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials at 74 kg GR, and competed at the 2012 Olympics. He also competed at the 2016 Olympics. Personal life He is the son o ...

in the preliminary rounds, before losing out the quarterfinal match to Azerbaijan's

Emin Ahmadov Emin Ahmadov (born 6 October 1986, Baku) is an Azerbaijani wrestler. He won the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Greco-Roman men's 74 kg event. Along the way he beat Neven Zugaj and Zurab Datunashvili, before losing t ...

, with a three-set technical score (3–0, 0–3, 0–4), and a classification point score of 1–3. In World Wrestling Championships 2014 for bronze medal in the 75 kg he lost to

Elvin Mursaliyev Elvin Mursaliyev ( az, Elvin Mürsəliyev, born 17 August 1988 in Baku) is an Azerbaijani Greco-Roman wrestler who won the silver medal at the 2010 European Wrestling Championships, also he won bronze medal at the 2014 European ...

of Azerbaijan (1—1). At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he was knocked out in the first round by Doszhan Kartikov. In November 2016, Datunashvili was disqualified from the 2016 European Cup of Nations after engaging in a mid-match fist fight with his Russian opponent,

Imil Sharafetdinov Imil Irfanovich Sharafetdinov ( tt-Cyrl, Имиль Ирфан улы Шәрәфетдинов; born November 2, 1987) is a Russian former Greco-Roman wrestler of Tatar The Tatars ()Gogi Koguashvili Gogi Murmanovich Koguashvili (russian: Гоги Мурманович Когуашвили; born 26 April 1969 in Kutaisi) is a Soviet and Russian former wrestler of Georgian descent who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics, in the 1996 Summer Oly ...

, the head coach of the Russian national wrestling team, later remarked. In 2018, Datunashvili accused the Georgian Wrestling Federation of favoritism and corruption. On 11 January 2019, he was assaulted by Gega Gegeshidze, the president of the Georgian Wrestling Federation, following a match with

Robert Kobliashvili Robert Kobliashvili (born 6 December 1993) is a Georgian Greco-Roman wrestler. He won a bronze medal at the 2017 World Wrestling Championships. He is a European Champion (2018). He competed in the men's Greco-Roman 85 kg event at the 2016 Summ ...

which Datunashvili lost by referee's decision. The incident was captured on video. "I don't want him egeshidzeto be arrested, I want him to resign," Datunashvili later told

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

. "He's not man enough to speak the truth, but I feel that truth will prevail. Everyone saw that he hit me with a blunt metal object of some kind." On 20 January, the Georgian Police announced they were opening an investigation into the incident. In 2020, he won one of the bronze medals in the 87 kg event at the Individual Wrestling World Cup held in Belgrade, Serbia. In 2021, he won a bronze medal in Tokyo, at the Olympic games for the Serbian national team. In 2022, he won the silver medal in his event at the

Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan Tournament Vehbi is a Turkish name derived from the Arabic name Wahab. It may refer to: * Vehbi Akdağ, Turkish wrestler * Myfti Vehbi Dibra, one of the signatories of Albanian Declaration of Independence * Vehbi Koç, Turkish businessman See also * Vehbi ...

held in Istanbul, Turkey. He won the gold medal in the 87kg event at the

2022 World Wrestling Championships The 2022 World Wrestling Championships was the 17th edition of the World Wrestling Championships of combined events and was held between 10 and 18 September 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia. The UWW Bureau approved the candidature of Belgrade, Serb ...

held in Belgrade, Serbia. His retirement from professional wrestling was announced in 2023.

References

External links

Profile at National Wrestling Federation of Georgia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Datunashvili, Zurabi 1991 births Living people Serbian people of Georgian descent Serbian male sport wrestlers Male sport wrestlers from Georgia (country) Olympic wrestlers for Georgia (country) Olympic wrestlers for Serbia Olympic bronze medalists for Serbia Olympic medalists in wrestling Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics European Wrestling Champions European Wrestling Championships medalists European champions for Serbia European Games competitors for Georgia (country) Wrestlers at the 2015 European Games Sport wrestlers from Tbilisi Naturalized citizens of Serbia World Wrestling Champions