Kakhi Kakhiashvili (Georgian: კახი კახიაშვილი, Greek: Ακάκιος "Κάχι" Κακιασβίλης; born 13 July 1969 in Tskhinvali, Georgian SSR, USSR) is a Georgian-Greek weightlifter, one of only six 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] He was named the 1996 and 1999 Greek Male Athlete of the Year.

Akakios Kakiasvilis
Personal information
Birth nameKakhi Kakhiashvili
NationalityGeorgian / Greek
Born (1969-07-13) 13 July 1969 (age 55)
Tskhinvali, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Sport
SportWeightlifting
Medal record
Men's weightlifting
Representing  Georgia
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1993 Melbourne –91 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1993 Sofia –91 kg
Silver medal – second place 1994 Sokolov –91 kg
Representing the  Unified Team
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1992 Barcelona –90 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1992 Szekszard –90 kg
Representing  Greece
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta –99 kg
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney –94 kg
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1994 Istanbul –91 kg
Gold medal – first place 1995 Guangzhou –99 kg
Gold medal – first place 1998 Lahti –94 kg
Gold medal – first place 1999 Athens –94 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1995 Warsaw –91 kg
Gold medal – first place 1996 Stavanger –99 kg
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Riesa –94 kg
Silver medal – second place 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

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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

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[6][7]

Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank
Olympic Games
1992   Barcelona, Spain –90 kg 170.0 175.0 177.5 2 220.0 225.0 235.0 =WR 1 412.5 =OR  
1996   Atlanta, United States –99 kg 180.0 185.0 187.5 3 220.0 225.0 235.0 WR 1 420.0 WR  
2000   Sydney, Australia –94 kg 180.0 185.0 187.5 2 220.0 3 405.0  
2004   Athens, Greece –94 kg 180.0 180.0 185.0 4 220.0 220.0 220.0
World Championships
1993   Melbourne, Australia –91 kg 175.0 180.0 180.0   200.0 215.0 225.0   402.5  
1994   Istanbul, Turkey –91 kg 172.5 177.5 180.0   210.0 220.0 230.0   397.5  
1995   Guangzhou, China –99 kg 182.5 182.5 187.5   225.0 227.5 230.0   410.0  
1998   Lahti, Finland –94 kg 175.0 180.0 182.5   215.0 220.0   400.0  
1999   Athens, Greece –94 kg 180.0 185.0 188.0 WR   222.5 225.0 230.5   412.5 WR[8][a]  
European Championships
1992   Szekszárd, Hungary –90 kg 175.0   225.0   400.0  
1993   Sofia, Bulgaria –91 kg 180.0   222.5   402.5  
1994   Sokolov, Czech Republic –91 kg 180.0   200.0   400.0  
1995   Warsaw, Poland –91 kg 180.0   228.5 WR   407.5  
1996   Stavanger, Norway –99 kg 165.0 170.0 175.0   210.0 222.5   392.5  
1998   Riesa, Germany –94 kg 165.0 170.0 172.5 4 207.5 210.0 212.5   380.0  
1999   A Coruña, Spain –94 kg 172.5 177.5 180.0   217.5 222.5 225.0   402.5  
2003   Loutraki, Greece –94 kg 167.5 175.0 177.5 5
2004   Kyiv, Ukraine –94 kg 172.5 177.5 177.5 6 215.0 215.0 220.0 4 392.5 4
Junior World Championships
1988   Athens, Greece –82.5 kg 170.0   NA NA NA NA
1989   Fort Lauderdale, United States –90 kg 170.0   225.0 JWR   395.0  

Notes

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  • 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]

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Akakios Kakiasvili". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. 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. 20 December 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Olympic Profile". Olympic.org. Retrieved 18 March 2019.[dead link]
  5. ^ Randall J. Strossen. (21 July 2009). Kakhi Kakhiashvili: David Versus Goliath in the Weightlifting World. IronMind. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  6. ^ "Kakiasvilis Akakios (GRE)". Database Weightlifting (in German).
  7. ^ "World Championships Juniors 1997-2007 and Statistics" (PDF). pp. 84, 100.
  8. ^ "International Weightlifting Federation (IWF.NET)". Archived from the original on 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2014-11-16. iwf.net. Retrieved on 2009-06-13
  9. ^ "IWF eliminates World Standards from World Record list". International Weightlifting Federation. 24 June 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
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