Georgia (GEO)

Many Georgian athletes competed from 1952 to 1988 for the Soviet Union. Its top sports were judo and wrestling and, in fact, Georgian judoka won more medals for the Soviet Union than any other republic, including Russia. The most famous Georgian Olympic athletes under Soviet rule were wrestlers Davit Gobejishvili (one gold and one bronze) and Levan Tediashvili (two gold), and track & field athletes Viktor Saneyev (three gold and one silver in triple jump) and Robert’ Shavlaq’adze (gold in high jump). Georgian athletes were present at Barcelona in 1992 as members of the Unified Team.

The National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Georgia was formed in 1989 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the IOC session in Monte Carlo, in September 1993. Georgia first competed at the 1996 Summer Games as an independent nation. Georgia has won 40 Olympic medals, with 10 gold, all at the Summer Olympics.

One athlete from Georgia has won two gold medals: Lasha Talakhadze, in 2016 and 2020, both in the weightlifting super-heavyweight class. Lasha Shavdatuashvili is the only Georgian athlete with three medals, one of each color, in men’s judo half-lightweight (2012) and lightweight classes (2016 and 2020).

Georgia’s first Olympic appearance as an independent nation occurred at Lillehammer 1994, where it was represented by five athletes who competed in luge, alpine skiing, and ski jumping. It has since competed at all eight Olympic Winter Games through 2022, with its athletes having competed in Alpine skiing, figure skating, luge, and ski jumping. Their best finish has been a sixth place at Beijing 2022, by its mixed figure skating team.