Tato Grigalashvili wins his third consecutive world title

The Georgian judoka from Paris Saint-Germain became world champion (-81kg) for the third consecutive time in his career on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates).

Tato Grigalashvili beat Russia's Timur Arbuzov in the final of his category to win the gold medal at the 2024 World Championships. This is the 24-year-old Red and Blue judoka's third world title, following those won in 2022 in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and in 2023 in Doha (Qatar).

The Georgian also reached the top step of the podium at the last European Championships, in Zagreb last April.

The man from Gori (Georgia), who is also a three-time European champion in the -81kg category, first beat Germany's Timo Cavelius in his opening bout, before defeating Turkey's Vedat Albayrak and then Tajik Somon Makhmadbekov in the quarter-finals. He went on to defeat Korea's Joonhwan Lee in the semi-final and Timur Arbuzov of Russia in the final.

"Tato put in a very high-level performance today. He confirmed his domination of the category with extraordinary consistency, both at continental and world level. I'd like to congratulate him on this new medal. He will obviously be one of the big favourites in a few weeks' time at the Paris Olympic Games.”
Djamel Bouras, President of Paris Saint-Germain Judo

TATO GRIGALASHVILI 
Profile
Category : -81 kg 
Born 1 December 1999,  Gori (Georgua) 
Nationality : Georgian
Height : 1m78 

Individual honours 
World champion (2024)
European champion (2024)
World champion (2023)
European champion in Montpellier (2023)
Bronze medal at Budapest Masters (2023) 
World champion (2023) 
Gold medal at Paris Grand Slam (2023) 
Gold medal at Jerusalem Masters (2022) 
World champion (2022) 
Bronze medal at Zagreb Grand Prix (2022) 
Silver medal at Tbilisi Grand Slam (2022) 
European champion (2022) 
Silver medal at Paris Grand Slam (2022) 
Silver medal at Paris Grand Slam (2021) 
Gold medal at Zagreb Grand Prix (2021) 
World runner-up (2021) 
Bronze medal at Tbilisi Grand Slam (2021) 
Gold medal at Doha Masters (2021) 
European champion (2020) 
Gold medal at Düsseldorf Grand Slam (2020) 
Bronze medal at Zagreb Grand Prix (2019) 
Gold medal at Budapest Grand Prix (2019) 
Bronze medal at Baku Grand Slam (2019) 
Bronze medal at Tbilisi Grand Prix (2019)

Team Honours
European Club Teams Champions League winner (2022)