1. Manuchar Kvirkvelia is a retired Georgian Greco-Roman wrestler and politician, an Olympic champion and a member of the Parliament of Georgia since 2008.
16 Facts About Manuchar Kvirkvelia
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Manuchar Kvirkvelia was born on October 12,1978, in Ozurgeti, Guria, a town in then-Soviet Georgia.
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Manuchar Kvirkvelia graduated in 2007 from the Vita Training University of Tbilisi, receiving a degree in finance.
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Manuchar Kvirkvelia is married to Inga Shanava and has six children, including three sons and three daughters.
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Manuchar Kvirkvelia started wrestling first in his hometown of Ozurgeti and after being discovered, moved to Tbilisi, where he started practicing Greco-Roman wrestling.
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Manuchar Kvirkvelia first appeared on the international mat at the age of 24 at the European Championship in the lightweight category in Seinajoki, Finland, where he won the Silver Medal, finishing second to Turkey's Seref Eroglu.
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Manuchar Kvirkvelia won the European Championship held in Sofia in 2007, winning his second international title, although he would perform poorly at the World Championship in Baku later that year, finishing 20th.
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The games coincided with the Russo-Georgian War and Manuchar Kvirkvelia said after his victory:.
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Manuchar Kvirkvelia has been awarded the Medal of Honor by President Eduard Shevardnadze, the Order of Excellence by President Mikheil Saakashvili, and the Order of Honor by President Giorgi Margvelashvili.
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Manuchar Kvirkvelia was elected as President of the Georgian Wrestling Federation on December 26,2014, defeating Valery Gelashvili, a member of Parliament endorsed by the governing Georgian Dream party, with 59 to 43 votes.
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Manuchar Kvirkvelia remained active in the sports management world after 2016.
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Manuchar Kvirkvelia joined the Progress and Freedom party, a right-wing party created by businessmen Kakhaber Okriashvili and Tsezar Chocheli ahead of the 2020 parliamentary election.
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Manuchar Kvirkvelia ran against 13 candidates, including incumbent MP Khatuna Gogorishvili and GD's Vasil Chigogidze.
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Manuchar Kvirkvelia won a seat in the Parliament of Georgia nonetheless through the bloc's electoral list, but was one of 49 MPs to refuse to recognize the results and boycotted their seats after allegations of massive voter fraud surfaced.
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Manuchar Kvirkvelia joined Parliament in May 2021 after a short-lived EU-facilitated agreement between Georgian Dream and the opposition.
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Manuchar Kvirkvelia is one of the largest donors of the Strength is in Unity bloc.