Shalva Chikhladze

Shalva Chikhladze from Georgia got interested in wrestling in 1920, when he saw Georgian professional wrestler Nikolay “Kolya” Kvariani, who was also born in Kutaisi, perform, but Chikhladze did not take up wrestling seriously before 1930, when he moved to Tbilisi. Soon Chikhladze became one of the top Georgian wrestlers, winning the Georgian SSR half-heavyweight title in 1932 and the South Caucasus half-heavyweight title in 1934. In 1935 Chikhladze moved to Moscow and started to train with Dynamo Moskva. In the same year, he participated at the Soviet Championships for the first time and won Greco-Roman half-heavyweight silver, which he would turn to gold the following year. Before World War II, Chikhladze also won two bronze medals at the Soviet Championships, both in Greco-Roman half-heavyweight, in 1937 and 1941. During WWII Chikhladze served with the Red Army and saw action in the Battle of Kaluga at the end of 1941, where he injured his left arm. After release from hospital in March 1942, Chikhladze was discharged from the Army with honors and returned to Tbilisi. He then took up wrestling again, winning three Soviet Greco-Roman half-heavyweight titles in 1946, 1949 and 1950. At the Soviet Championships, he also won Greco-Roman middleweight silver in 1944, Greco-Roman half-heavyweight silver in 1947 and 1951 and freestyle half-heavyweight bronze in 1946 and 1947. In 1952, well past his prime, Chikhladze was selected to the Soviet 1952 Olympic team and finished his sporting career with Olympic Greco-Roman half-heavyweight silver. Chikhladze later worked as a wrestling coach in his native Georgia.