Akakios KAKIASVILIS

Akakios Kakhiasvili was born in Soviet Georgia and took up weightlifting in 1980. He never won a medal at the Soviet championships, but won the Soviet middle-heavyweight cups in 1988 and 1991. Kakhiasvili first competed at the Olympic Games in 1992, representing the Unified Team (Équipe Unifié), and earned a gold medal in the middle-heavyweight class. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Kakhiasvili represented his birth country of Georgia and won middle-heavyweight silver at the 1993 and 1994 World Championships and was European middle-heavyweight Champion in 1992 and 1993, while taking silver in 1994. After the 1994 World Championships Kakhiasvili emigrated to Greece and earned Greek nationality. Representing Greece, he was the World sub-heavyweight champion in 1995 and middle-heavyweight champion in 1998 and 1999. Kakhiasvili won further Olympic gold medals in 1996 (sub-heavyweight) and 2000 (middle-heavyweight) and, as of 2011, is one of only three weightlifters to win three gold medals. Kakhiasvili was also European middle-heavyweight champion in 1995, sub-heavyweight champion in 1996, and won the middle-heavyweight silver in 1999 and bronze in 1998. Kakhiasvili also competed at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, but failed to complete a successful lift in the clean and jerk and did not officially finish. He set seven world records: two in the snatch, four in the clean & jerk, and one in the total. After finishing his sporting career Kakhiasvili moved back to Georgia and worked as a weightlifting coach.