Giorgi Zantaraia

Giorgi Zantaraia

Giorgi Zantaraia (Georgian:გიორგი ზანთარაია; Ukrainian:Ґiорґi Зантарая) (born October 21, 1987 in Gali, Abkhazia) is a judoka from Ukraine with Georgian roots.

Info

- He was born in Gali but during civil war in Abkhazia (1992-93) when he was 5 years old his family moved to Kiev, Ukraine.

- He can understand Georgian but he can't write and read.

- He begun with judo at age 10 in his school where was a seminary. Later he countinued under trainer Vitaliy Dubrova.

- Although he had better results in 2008 he missed Olympic Games in Beijing because trainers chose Maksym Korotun to be the one who will represent Ukraine in -60kg category.

- His other problem was that he did not received promised money for his title of World Champion in 2009. He was thinking about changing citizenships during this time. Turkey offered him 100 000$ but he did not accept because of parents.

Links

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001748984993
Interview 09/2009
Interview 09/2010
Interview 10/2011