Georgian Judoka Champ Wins Bronze at Rio Olympics

RIO DE JANEIRO - Georgian judoka  Lasha Shavdatuashvili won a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics on Monday to secure the small South Caucasus nation’s first medal at this year’s games.

Competing in the men’s 73-kilogram category, Shavdatuashvili defeated Israel's Sagi Muki and Russia's Denis Yartsev in the final to secure his first medal of the games.

In the matchup against Yartsev, Shavdatuashvili slammed the Russian to the mat and immediately gestured to the Georgian flag patch on his uniform. He then forcefully pointed to the ground as he stood victorious in front of a dejected Yartsev.

Shavdatuashvili’s bronze medal victory came on the eighth anniversary of the start of the five-day Russo-Georgian War, which brought Moscow’s tanks within an hour’s drive of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

Video of Shavdatuashvili pointing to the Georgian flag went viral by early Tuesday morning

Shavdatuashvili, a native of Gori - which was heavily bombed by the Russian air force during the 2008 war - won a gold medal in the 66-kilogram category at the London Olympics in 2012.