Before Olympic, European medals, he won bulls, tractors in India: Incredible story of the wrestling champion who cut his teeth in Dangals

And while he is still basking in the afterglow of the two medals, the 32-year-old can’t stop gushing about the other prizes he’s won in India — a tractor, a bull and a Bullet motorcycle. “Very, very special,” he says.

Giorgi Meshvildishvili in action. (Special arrangement)

Before he found his way to international podiums, Giorgi cut his teeth on mud pits in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra. “I came to India three times and my experience was very, very nice,” Giorgi tells The Indian Express. “The dangals were extraordinary. I played against Jassa Patti, Sikandar (Sheikh) and Pritpal (Phagwara)… all of them very, very strong.”

Jaskanwar Singh Gill, known as Jassa Patti in the wrestling fraternity, has, over the years, earned sobriquets like “modern-day Dara Singh” and “Virat Kohli of mud wrestling”. Sikandar Sheikh and Pritpal are also two of the strongest grapplers on the mud.

Less than a fortnight ago, the wrestling fraternity watched in awe as Giorgi lifted Georgia’s Solomon Manashvili — weighing 125 kg — from the waist, lifted him over his head, and slammed him on the mat. The move, executed in desperation with just seven seconds left in the final, helped Giorgi win the European Championship gold medal in the most dramatic manner.

The world may only have been acquainted with Giorgi’s brute power in the last few months. But around the rustic world of dangals across India, ‘Giorgi Georgian’s’ strength is the stuff of legends and has been celebrated for years.

His first visit to India was in 2016 when he competed in Dilawarpur, a village in Punjab. Since then, he’s competed at various dangals across Punjab, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh.

Golu Pehelwan, who runs an academy in Mullanpur, brokered Giorgi’s first appearance in India. “Wrestling is a close community. One of my coaches had taken some of our junior wrestlers to Georgia for an exposure camp. There, he met Giorgi and told him about the dangal culture back home. He got interested and we extended an invitation to him,” Golu recalls.

Back then, Giorgi was an upcoming wrestler, having won a silver medal for Georgia in the U23 European Championship. As he waited for his big international break in the senior category, he came to India where he faced off against some of the biggest dangal stars, including Jassa Patti.

Jassa remembers his bouts with Giorgi fondly. Not just because they were always of high quality, but it was after beating Giorgi that Jassa won his first big prize — a tractor.

“I won my first tractor after defeating him in 2016 during our dangal in Dilawarpur,” Jassa says. “We have fought six-seven bouts. We have beaten each other once, the rest were evenly fought.”

Giorgi Meshvildishvili in action. (Special arrangement)

It isn’t uncommon for dangal organisers to invite foreign wrestlers. But, as Jassa puts it, the thousands who stand around the wrestler in circles or sit on top of cars, trucks and tractors are not easily swayed by them. “They look for quality. Just because someone is from abroad doesn’t mean you will be respected,” Jassa, who applauds Giorgi’s defence, says. “And in Giorgi, they saw a very good wrestler. He had defeated some of the top pehelwans and earned the crowd’s respect.”

Giorgi says he was showered with love wherever he went. In Dilawarpur, someone from the crowd casually walked up to him after a bout and handed him money as a sign of appreciation for his art. “I even got a tractor, a Bullet and a big bull. It was nice,” Giorgi says. Before leaving, he exchanged his prizes for cash.

While he earned admiration across India, Giorgi’s international career stagnated. With the 125-kg category stacked with top-class wrestlers in Georgia, he switched nationalities, moved to Azerbaijan and began representing the country in 2023. It didn’t take long for him to show his class — the Paris Olympics bronze and the European Championship gold are a testimony to this.

Although he has now moved on to bigger things, Giorgi yearns for a chance to return to India. “If there is a good dangal, I will surely come to India,” he says.