by Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for VK
Georgia had special expectations and excitement over the Olympic Games in London. Georgia had an opportunity to enjoy the grand sports event for the first time in 8 years. Fans hoped for victories of their athletes. Georgian wrestlers won three gold medals in 2008. This time, they got only one gold medal, three silvers and three bronzes in different types of wrestling. Argentina won one gold medal, India, Belgium and Greece won none.
Georgian fans would not settle down, as a result of ambitions originating from the Soviet times. Georgian wrestlers won numerous medals, including golden ones, as part of the USSR national team. The government did its best for success of the Georgian team in the UK. Besides economic stimulation, Olympic champions were promised $1.2 million for every gold medal, compared with only 18,000 euro in Germany.
The Olympic Games in London prove that dollars are not what brings victories. Unfortunately, free wrestlers, Greco-Roman and judo wrestlers, the favourites of the games, managed to earn silver and bronze medals only. Many of them were winners of world and European championships, having no rivals at other championships. But the Olympics are a special responsibility. The chief coach of the judo team, legendary Austrian judo wrestler Peter Seisenbacher explained the fail: “The guys could not withstand the psychological pressure, although many of them were stronger than their opponents”. It was evident how freewheeling the wrestlers of other states were and how nervous Georgian wrestlers felt. This proves that athletes should not take up missions beyond their sports competence.
This makes the phenomenon of the only Olympic Champion of Georgia Lasha Shavdatuashvili more surprising. The 20-year old judo wrestler was never expected to win. It was his very first performance at an international match. Lasha probably won because he did not suffer from the burden of responsibility. No one would reproach him for losing to notable wrestlers of Japan and Korea. He was absolutely calm and was enjoying his part in the great sports games. Lasha won regardless of any logic or forecasts. This is when journalists got interested in his life. It turns out that the Olympic champion grew up in a poor village of Karaleti near Gori. His family still lives in a house damaged in the August War. His parents were almost speechless from the joy and told journalists just one thing: “Lasha was the first one going to the sports club and the last one leaving it”. Hard work, talent and instinctive faith in Olympic ideals brought him a victory for life, because there are no “former Olympic champions”.
