16 years have passed since Alexander Tsirekidze’s legendary victory against Russian athlete Ivan Pershin.
In the semi-finals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Georgian judoka, participating in the -90 kg weight category, met the Russian Ivan Pershin. During the period when the war was still a day away, the Georgian slammed the Russian on his back and brought little joy to Georgia.
“Everyone will remember that at that time the August war was going on in Georgia and we had decided to leave, but if we were to leave the competition, there was a serious danger that we would be disqualified and miss two Olympic Games, which would be a huge blow to Georgian sports,” Alexander Tsirekidze recalled in an interview with “Crystalsport”.
In the final match, the Georgian defeated the Algerian Aman Belikhlef and brought the Olympic gold to Georgia.
16 years since Tsirekidze’s victory
