Kakhi Kakhiashvili

Kakhi Kakhiashvili (Georgian: კახი კახიაშვილი, Greek: Ακάκιος Κακιασβίλης; born 13 July 1969 in Tskhinvali, South Ossetian AO, Georgian SSR, USSR) is a Georgian-Greek weightlifter, is one of only four weightlifters to have won three consecutive gold medals at Olympic Games. He won his first at Barcelona 1992, competing with the Unified Team, and later as a citizen of Greece at Atlanta 1996 and in Sydney 2000.[1] He won three Senior World Championships (1995, 1998, 1999), was twice a silver medalist at the Senior World Championships (1993 and 1994), and set seven world records during his career.[2]

Akakios Kakiasvilis
Personal information
Birth nameKakhi Kakhiashvili
NationalityGeorgian
Born (1969-07-13) 13 July 1969
Tskhinvali, Georgian SSR
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Sport
SportWeightlifting
Medal record
Representing  Georgia
World Championships
1993 Melbourne –91 kg
European Championships
1993 Sofia –91 kg
1994 Sokolov –91 kg
Men's weightlifting
Representing the  Unified Team
Olympic Games
1992 Barcelona -90 kg
European Championships
1992 Szekszard –90 kg
Representing  Greece
Olympic Games
1996 Atlanta -99 kg
2000 Sydney -94 kg
World Championships
1994 Istanbul -91 kg
1995 Guangzhou -99 kg
1998 Lahti -94 kg
1999 Athens -94 kg
European Championships
1995 Warsaw –91 kg
1996 Stavanger –99 kg
1998 Riesa –94 kg
1999 Lacoruna –94 kg

Kakhiashvili was born in Tskhinvali, Georgia, to a Georgian father and a Greek mother, Maria Lamprianidi. He is renowned in weightlifting circles for his uncanny ability to lift exactly what was required to win. Dubbed as a "computer" by some competitors, he also had the ability to block out everything that was not relevant to the competition at hand.

Career

At the 1992 Summer Olympics lifting for the Unified Team in the 90 kg category, he went against the instructions of his coach Vasily Alexeev, the all-time weightlifting great. His coach wanted his Russian teammate Sergey Syrtsov to win the contest and did not let Kakhiashvili try to lift heavier to beat the Russian. During the snatch portion of the competition, it looked like Sergey Syrtsov was going to win, with a 12.5 kg lead over Kakhiashvili from an Olympic Record 190.0 kg snatch. During the clean & jerk portion of the competition Kakhiashvili lifted 225.0 kg on his second attempt, giving him a total of 402.5 kg, a full 10.0 kg less than Syrstov. Kakhi ordered 10 kg more to be put on the bar in order to beat his Russian teammate. He successfully lifted the 235.0 kg clean and jerk,[3] giving him a total of 412.5 kg. Event though his total tied Syrstov, Kakhiashvili won the gold medal due to virtue of a lighter bodyweight,[4] (89.25 kg vs. 89.45 kg) this performance established his right to the title of one of the sports elite lifters.[5]

Major results
Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank
Olympic Games
1992 Barcelona, Spain90 kg170.0175.0177.52220.0225.0235.01412.5
1996 Atlanta, United States99 kg180.0185.0187.53220.0225.0235.0 WR1420.0 WR
2000 Sydney, Australia94 kg180.0185.0187.51220.0——3405.0
2004 Athens, Greece94 kg180.0180.0185.04220.0220.0220.0———
World Championships
1993 Melbourne, Australia91 kg175.0180.0180.0200.0215.0225.0402.5
1994 Istanbul, Turkey91 kg172.5177.5180.0210.0220.0230.0397.5
1995 Guangzhou, China99 kg182.5182.5187.5225.0227.5230.0410.0
1998 Lahti, Finland94 kg175.0180.0182.5215.0220.0—400.0
1999 Athens, Greece94 kg180.0185.0188.0 WR222.5225.0230.5412.5 WR[a]
European Championships
1992 Szekszárd, Hungary90 kg175.0225.0400.0
1993 Sofia, Bulgaria91 kg180.0222.5402.5
1994 Sokolov, Czech Republic91 kg180.0200.0400.0
1995 Warsaw, Poland91 kg180.0227.5407.5
1996 Stavanger, Norway99 kg165.0170.0175.0210.0222.5—392.5
1998 Riesa, Germany94 kg165.0170.0172.54207.5210.0212.5380.0
1999 A Coruña, Spain94 kg172.5177.5180.0217.5222.5225.0402.5
2003 Loutraki, Greece94 kg167.5175.0177.55——————
2004 Kiev, Ukraine94 kg172.5177.5177.56215.0215.0220.04392.54

Career bests

Notes and references
  • a Not a world record at the time of the competition, became a world record when IWF decided to eliminate the world standards from the list of World Records on 24 June 2008.[9]
  1. Akakios Kakiasvili Bio, Stats, and Results. Sports Reference. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  2. Akakide Kakhiashvilis @ Lift Up Hall of Fame. Lift Up. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  3. "Kakhi Kakhiashvili 1992 Olympics Barcelona Gold". All Things Gym. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  4. "Olympic Profile". Olympic.org. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  5. Randall J. Strossen. (21 July 2009). Kakhi Kakhiashvili: David Versus Goliath in the Weightlifting World. IronMind. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2014-11-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) iwf.net. Retrieved on 2009-06-13
  7. 413.0 kg = weight lifted, 412.0 kg = weight standard.
  8. Database Weightlifting. Kakiasvilis Akakios (GRE). In: <http://www.iat.uni-leipzig.de/datenbanken/dbgwh/daten.php?spid=DE599A40186F4B83998A9DFFEF474D2B>. Retrieved on 2009-06-14.
  9. "IWF eliminates World Standards from World Record list". International Weightlifting Federation. 24 June 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
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