Georgia was once part of the Soviet Union, and did not compete in the world of sport under its own name until the 1990s. Georgia is located right at the crossroad between Eastern Europe and Western Asia and is bordered by Russia (north), Türkiye (south), and Azerbaijan (southeast). It is part of what used to be known as the Kingdom of Iberia, where physical fitness has long been highly valued.

Georgian FlagGeorgian Flag

Wrestling is the traditional sport of Georgia, and Greco-Roman wrestling has a strong connection to the country. Georgians have also grown fond of more modern sports such as football, rugby union, weightlifting, basketball, and judo. Football is the most widely played and followed sport, while rugby union has arguably become the sport in which Georgia competes most successfully on the international stage.

Modern football was introduced to Georgia by English sailors playing in the Black Sea port of Poti.

Georgia loves physically demanding sports, and different kinds of wrestling are still practiced all around the country — the most popular being the Kakhetian style of the folk wrestling known as chidaoba. In the 19th century, Georgians also played the sport Lelo Burti, which is very similar to rugby union.

Georgia first participated as an independent state at the Olympic Games in 1994, when they competed at the Winter Games held in Lillehammer, Norway. They had been sending athletes to the Olympic Games since 1952 as part of the former Soviet Union. Not surprisingly, Georgia's biggest Olympic medal producers are wrestling, judo and weightlifting — though the country's first-ever Winter Olympic medal, won in 2026, came from a very different discipline (see below).

Below are details of sports, sporting events and sports people related to Georgia. Is there something missing? If you know of something that should be listed here, please let us know.

Popular sports of Georgia

Traditional or Regional Sports from Georgia

  • Lelo Burti — a full-contact team sport that originated during ancient times in Georgia. The sport has a lot of similarities to rugby. A ceremonial version is still played each Easter in the village of Shukhuti.
  • Chidaoba — Georgian folk wrestling, traditionally performed to music with drums and a wind instrument. It was inscribed on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2018.
  • Tskhenburti — a Georgian form of mounted ball game, similar to polo, played on horseback with a racquet.
  • Isindi — a traditional equestrian game in which mounted teams throw and dodge blunt javelins.

Georgia's Sporting Success

  • Georgia won its first-ever Winter Olympic medal at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games, when the pair of Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava took silver in the figure skating pairs event on 16 February 2026, scoring 221.75 points. Georgia sent eight athletes (four men, four women) to those Games, competing in figure skating and alpine skiing, and finished 25th on the medal table.
  • The 2024 Paris Olympics were Georgia's most successful Summer Games, with seven medals (three gold, three silver, one bronze) from a team of 28 athletes across nine sports, placing the country 24th overall. The gold medallists were Lasha Talakhadze (weightlifting, +102kg), Lasha Bekauri (judo, 90kg) and Geno Petriashvili (wrestling, freestyle 125kg).
  • Georgia made their European Football Championship (Euro) finals debut in 2024 and reached the round of 16 at the first attempt, beating Portugal 2–0 in the group stage before losing to eventual champions Spain.
  • Georgia won the mixed team title at the 2025 World Judo Championships in Budapest — the country's first world team title in the sport.
  • Georgia's basketball team reached the quarter-finals of EuroBasket for the first time in 2025, upsetting France 80–70 in the round of 16 before losing to Finland and finishing eighth.
  • Georgia's rugby union team qualified for the Rugby World Cup in 2027, extending a run of appearances at every tournament since 2003, and won the 2025 Rugby Europe Championship for a record-extending 17th title.
  • Georgia missed out on a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, finishing third in UEFA qualifying Group E behind Spain and Türkiye.

Great athletes from Georgia

  • Lasha Talakhadze (weightlifting) — three-time Olympic champion (2016, 2020, 2024) and seven-time world champion, holder of the all-time world records in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total.
  • Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (football) — winger for Paris Saint-Germain and Georgia's talisman, voted the country's best footballer of 2025.
  • Tato Grigalashvili (judo) — multiple world champion at 81kg and Olympic silver medallist in 2024.
  • Lasha Bekauri (judo) — back-to-back Olympic champion at 90kg (2020, 2024).
  • Geno Petriashvili (wrestling) — Olympic champion and multiple world champion in freestyle heavyweight.
  • Anastasiia Metelkina & Luka Berulava (figure skating) — Georgia's first Winter Olympic medallists.
  • Nona Gaprindashvili (chess) — Women's World Champion 1962–1978 and the first woman to be awarded the Grandmaster title.
  • Maia Chiburdanidze (chess) — Women's World Champion 1978–1991.
  • Zaza Pachulia, Tornike Shengelia, and Goga Bitadze (basketball).
  • Mamuka Gorgodze (rugby union) — long-serving captain and Georgia's most capped forward.
  • Nikoloz Basilashvili (tennis) — multiple ATP title winner.
  • Boris Paichadze, Murtaz Khurtsilava, and Aleksandre Chivadze (football) — the country's great players of the Soviet era.

Georgia Sports Trivia

  • Georgian football player Murtaz Khurtsilava captained the USSR team and played a crucial role at the 1966 FIFA World Cup.
  • A 2–0 victory against Portugal at the 2024 Euros is considered one of the biggest upsets in European Championship history.
  • Georgia and Armenia will jointly host the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2029 — the first FIFA tournament ever to be staged in either country.
  • Georgia's first Winter Olympic medal came in figure skating, a sport with no Georgian tradition, and was won 32 years after the country's Winter Games debut in 1994.
  • Lasha Talakhadze has set 26 official senior world records and is often described as the strongest weightlifter in history.
  • Georgia hosted the 2026 World Rugby Junior World Championship, the first time the men's U20 world tournament had been held in the country.

Georgia at major events

Past sporting events hosted in Georgia

  • 2015 UEFA Super Cup — Barcelona v Sevilla, Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi.
  • 43rd Chess Olympiad, 2018 — Batumi.
  • EuroBasket 2022 — Tbilisi hosted one of the four group-stage venues.
  • 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship — co-hosted with Romania, at venues in Tbilisi, Batumi, and Kutaisi.
  • World Rugby Junior World Championship 2026 (U20) — 27 June to 18 July 2026, at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium and Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi and Aia Arena in Kutaisi. South Africa won the title.
  • 2026 European Weightlifting Championships — Batumi, April 2026.
  • 2026 European Judo Championships — Tbilisi, April 2026.
  • 2026 European Sambo Championships — Tbilisi, May 2026.

Upcoming sporting events in Georgia

  • FIFA U-20 World Cup 2029 — co-hosted with Armenia, the first FIFA tournament to be held in either country.

Annual sporting events held in Georgia

  • Judo Grand Slam Tbilisi — an IJF World Judo Tour event held each March in the capital.
  • Karate 1 Series A — a World Karate Federation tour event held in Tbilisi in January.
  • Crystalbet Erovnuli Liga — the national football championship, the top tier of Georgian football.
  • Didi 10 — the national rugby union championship, played through the autumn and spring.
  • Lelo Burti at Shukhuti — the traditional Easter match between the villages of Zemo and Kvemo Shukhuti.

Sporting Facilities in Georgia

  • Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi — the national football stadium, capacity around 54,500, and the largest stadium in the Caucasus.
  • Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi — capacity 22,754, the main home of the national rugby union team.
  • Adjarabet Arena, Batumi — capacity around 20,000, opened in 2020.
  • Tbilisi Sports Palace — the country's main indoor arena, used for basketball, and a EuroBasket 2022 venue.
  • Aia Arena, Kutaisi — capacity 4,860, a rugby and football venue.
  • Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi — capacity 3,500.
  • Bakuriani and Gudauri — the country's main winter sports and alpine skiing resorts.