Vakhtang Balavadze (wrestler)

Vakhtang Balavadze (20 November 1927 to 25 July 2018) was a Georgian welterweight freestyle wrestler who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1950s and early 1960s. Born in Ganiri in the Georgian SSR, now part of Samtredia, he wrestled in the 73 kilogram class for the Burevestnik sports society of Tbilisi. He won the world title at the 1954 championships in Tokyo and again at the 1957 championships in Istanbul, and took the silver medal at the 1959 championships in Tehran. At the Olympic Games he won the bronze medal in the men's freestyle welterweight event at Melbourne in 1956 and competed again at Rome in 1960, where he did not reach the podium. Domestically he won the Soviet freestyle welterweight title in 1952 to 1955 and in 1957, and finished second in 1956 and 1959. He retired from competition after the 1960 Games and became a wrestling coach and referee in Georgia.