Levan Tediashvili (Georgian: ლევან თედიაშვილი; 15 March 1948 – 17 February 2024) was a Soviet and Georgian wrestler and Olympic champion in Freestyle wrestling in 1972 and 1976. He remained undefeated between 1971 and 1976. Besides freestyle wrestling, he was also a Soviet and world champion in sambo.[1]
Olympics
Tediashvili won gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in the middleweight class.[2] At the 1976 Summer Olympics he received gold medal in the light heavyweight class.[3] While winning these titles, he defeated two brothers, John Peterson in 1972 and Ben Peterson in 1976. John won a gold medal in 1976 and Ben won a gold medal in 1972, in the weight categories where Tediashvili did not compete.[1]
Tediashvili was born to a Georgian father, invalid of World War II, and a Russian mother, who moved to Georgia with her other son Herman after her husband was killed in World War II. Herman also became wrestler and then worked as wrestling coach in Chișinău.[4]
In 1987, he and Georgian Olympic cyclist Omar Pkhakadze played two heroes in the historical Georgian film Khareba da Gogia.[5] The film director Georgiy Shengelaya chose them instead of professional actors for their athleticism, charisma and energy required for these roles; their assistants in the film were also played by sportsmen, world champions in wrestling.[6]
Tediashvili fought in the Abkhazian War, along with his son, who was killed in the conflict. From 1995 to 2003, he was a parliamentary deputy from a district of Kakheti.[7]
In 2021, Tediashvili played the starring role of a former wrestling champion in Levan Koguashvili's feature film Brighton 4th, for which he was awarded Best Actor at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival,[8] and Outstanding Individual Performance at FilmFestival Cottbus 2021.[9]
Tediashvili died on 17 February 2024, at the age of 75.[10]
