Arsen Mekokishvili

Arsen Mekokishvili ( Georgian არსენ მეკოკიშვილი ; born April 12, 1912 in Georgizminda, today Kakheti region , Georgia ; † March 5, 1972 in Moscow ) was a Soviet wrestler of Georgian origin. He was Olympic champion in 1952 and world champion in 1954.

Life

Arsen Mekokishvili started wrestling at Dinamo Tbilisi when he was 20 . In the Georgian SSR a wrestling center was established after 1945, which produced outstanding athletes and from which many Olympic, world and European champions came from. Mekokishvili soon became one of the top Soviet heavyweights. He initially wrestled in both styles (Greco-Roman and freestyle), but in the late 1940s he specialized entirely in the free style.

In 1946 he moved to Dinamo Minsk . Together with that of Estonia originating Johannes Kotkas and Moscow Alexander Masur he controlled more than 20 years, the heavyweight division in the USSR . The Soviet Union did not join the International Wrestling Federation (FILA) until 1947, so it was not until 1952 that it was able to compete in a major international event for the first time. But he still had great success, because he became Olympic champion in 1952 and world champion in 1954.

Professionally he belonged to the Soviet security authorities.

Placements

International

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, F = Freestyle, GR = Greco-Roman Style, S = Heavyweight, then over 87 kg body weight)

• 1952, gold medal , OS in Helsinki , F, S, with victories over József Kovács , Hungary , Kenneth Richmond , Great Britain , Natale Vecchi , Italy , Willi Waltner , FRG and Bertil Antonsson , Sweden ;

• 1953, 1st place , World Youth Festival in Bucharest , F, S, ahead of Kenneth Richmond and Josef Růžička , Czechoslovakia ;

• 1954, 1st place , World Cup in Tokyo , F, S, with victories over Taisto Kangasniemi , Finland , Ahmed Vafadar , Iran , Norbert Növényi , Hungary, Irfan Atan , Turkey and Bertil Antonsson

Most important international battles

• 1950, Ukraine - Georgia , F, S, shoulder winner over Igor Besdolya ;
• 1952, USSR - Finland, F, S, shoulder winner over Jaakko Virta ;
• 1954, Sweden - USSR, F, S, points winner over Bengt Fahlkvist ;
• 1954, Sweden - USSR, F, S, points winner over Bertil Antonsson

All Union Championships

(The champions of the Soviet republics were entitled to start)

• 1943, 5th place , GR, S, behind Johannes Kotkas , Alexander Masur , Konstantin Koberidze and Anatoli Kasanski ;
• 1944, 2nd place , GR, S, behind Kotkas and in front of Masur and Konstantin Koberidze;
• 1945, 3rd place , GR, S, behind Kotkas and Masur

In addition, Arsen Mekokishvili was multiple Soviet freestyle champion (heavyweight).

Web links

• Profile of Arsen Mekokishvili at the Institute for Applied Training Science
• Arsen Mekokishvili in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )