Jansugh Bagrationi

Jansugh Bagrationi started out as a handball player before quickly working his way up into important sporting and political positions in Georgia. Amongst his many sporting roles Bagrationi was the head of the PE department at the Georgian Technical University (1973–84), the chair of the Tbilisi Sports Committee (1984–87), and the deputy chair of the State Sports Committee of Georgia (1987–91).

In 1991 Bagrationi became the deputy minister at the Ministry of Sport and Tourism of Georgia, holding the role for two years. From 1993 to 1996 he was the deputy chair of the Sports Committee of Georgia, which was followed by a two-year stint as the deputy chair of the State Department of Sports. From 1999 to 2004 Bagrationi was a member of the 5th Parliament of Georgia.

Bagrationi was the President of the Georgian National Olympic Committee from 1996 to 2004, becoming an Honorary President of the organisation in 2004. In 1998 he was awarded with the Olympic Order in Silver.