Vladimir RUBASHVILI

Georgian Vladimer Rubashvili took up wrestling in 1955 and made the Soviet national team in 1960, just before the 1960 Olympics. Although Rubashvili’s life and career was cut short by a car accident, he is still considered one of the Soviet’s most technically advanced freestyle wrestlers. During his career, Rubashvili competed at two major international tournaments, winning the World freestyle featherweight title in 1961 and Olympic bronze in 1960. He also won three freestyle featherweight Soviet titles (1961-63), while taking bronze in 1960 and was considered as the favorite for the 1964 freestyle featherweight Olympic gold, but died in a car accident in his hometown of Tbilisi a few months before the Tokyo Olympics.