Ilias Iliadis, a prominent figure in the world of judo, not only in Europe but across every continent, stopped by Trace ‘N Chase recently. At only 17 years old, he became the youngest male in history to win the Olympic title in the 2004 Athens Games representing Greece. He is considered the best Greek judoka of all time with 13 medals (8 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze) in Olympic Games, World Cups, European Championships and Mediterranean Games!
Born in Georgia as Jarji Zviadauri, he is the cousin of 2004 Olympic champion at the U-90 kg category Zurab Zviadauri.
His many accolades include:
- The Gold Medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
- The Gold medal at the 2004 European Championship in Bucharest.
- The Silver medal at the 2005 World Judo Championship in Cairo.
- The Gold medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games in Almeria where he was also the flag bearer of the Greek delegation.
- The Silver Medal at the 2007 World Judo Championship in Brazil.
- The Gold Medal at the 2009 Mediterranean Games in Italy.
- The Gold medal at the 2010 World Judo Championship in Japan.
- The Bronze Medal at the 2010 European Judo Championship in Austria.
- The Gold Medal at the 2011 European Judo Championship in Turkey.
- The Gold medal at the 2011 World Judo Championship in France.
- The Bronze Medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
- The Bronze medal at the 2013 World Judo Championship in Brazil.
- The Gold medal at the 2014 World Judo Championship in Russia.
- The Bronze medal at the 2015 European Judo Championship in Azerbaijan.
He was ranked as the No. 1 of the IJF World Ranking for seniors in the U-90 kg category from 2011-2013 while he retired after the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil and has then become the lead coach of the Uzbekistan Judo National Team, nourishing the next generation of Judoka Champs!
A big fan of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kobe Bryant, Ilias follows the NBA closely and attends games whenever he visits USA.
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