NAME: LASHA BEKAURI
COUNTRY: GEORGIA
CATEGORY: -90KG
WORLD RANKING POINTS: 6000
Lasha BEKAURI’s first senior medal on the IJF World Judo came in 2019, an astounding Masters win in Qingdao drew a great deal of attention. It is no surprise as this is one of the most successful categories of Georgian Judo and now people were seeing an emerging talent. Few may have believed that in December 2019, that Bekauri would be Olympic Champion in Tokyo, but he was selected and flourished in the home of judo, becoming champion.
Following his medal, Bekauri endorsed himself, claiming that he would go on to become Olympic Champion again and wouldn’t be stopping at two titles for that matter! Though his fans did not see a great deal of him in the run up to the Paris Olympic Games, he gave a gold medal-winning performance in Tbilisi, and used the Madrid European Open as a test event before travelling to Paris. After some gruelling performances against the world’s best, he again took the Olympic title.
With his wins he has accumulated the points to stand atop of the -90kg category.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen