Davit Gobejishvili

Along with American Bruce Baumgartner, Georgian Davit Gobejishvili was considered the world’s best super-heavyweight freestyle wrestler in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Gobejishvili was the 1988 Olympic champion and the 1985 and 1990 World Champion, ahead of Baumgartner, and won bronze at the 1992 Olympics and silver at the 1986 World Championships, behind Baumgartner. Gobejishvili was also the 1985 European Champion and won the 1988 World Cup. Domestically, Gobejishvili won Soviet titles in 1985, 1986 and 1988. Gobejishvili retired from sports after the fall of the Soviet Union and later worked as a sport official. From 1994-2000 Gobejishvili was president of the Georgian Wrestling Federation and, from 2002-09, was deputy chairman of the sports department of the Georgian Ministry of Culture. In 2009 he became chairman of the sports department of the Georgian Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs (previously part of Ministry of Culture). He also served as the vice-president of Georgian National Olympic Committee.