SHERAZADISHVILI Nikoloz

General
REPRESENTING SPAIN
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, he moved to Spain with his family in 2010 and was granted Spanish citizenship in 2014. "I am proud to compete for this country. Without representing Spain, I would not have been a world champion [in 2018]. It has not been easy because I love my country [Georgia] and I will never forget it. I say I have two countries, Georgia and Spain. At first it hurt to see the Georgian flag or to see the Georgian team but I'm very proud to represent Spain and I enjoy seeing the Spanish flag." After his arrival in Spain he joined Brunete Judo Club in Madrid, which was run by coach Joaquin Ruiz Llorente. He says competing for Spain was a way to thank the coach. "Aside from being my coach, 'Quino' is like a second father. He has given his all for me and I didn't see any other way to thank him." (judoinside.com, 29 Mar 2016; European Judo YouTube channel, 03 Dec 2018; marca.com, 26 Sep 2018; elpais.com, 10 Oct 2019; tokyo2020.org, 28 Oct 2020)

MEMORIAL
He dedicated his 2018 world championship gold medal to his late father, who had died of a heart attack a year earlier. "It was important for me on a family level to have dedicated this medal to my father. I achieved my dream of becoming world champion, and I was able to see the hopes and motivation I created for the future generation." (tokyo2020.org, 28 Oct 2020)

He became the first Spanish male judoka to win gold at the world championships when he claimed victory in the 90kg category at the 2018 edition in Baku, Azerbaijan. (SportsDeskOnline, 02 Mar 2020)