The Georgian Wrestling Federation confirmed on Wednesday that 2019 World Champion Nugzari Tsurtsumia has passed away at the age of 27.
A cause of death is unknown at press time. Georgian news outlet Ajara TV reported that Tsurtsumia was found dead in his home in the town of Khobi.
Tsurtsumia’s last competitive appearance came in June at the Polyak Imre Memorial “Ranking Series” tournament in Budapest, Hungary. In what was a four-man round-robin bracket at 55 kg, Tsurtsumia defeated Marat Garipov (BRA) via technical superiority before losing to three-time World champ Eldaniz Azizli (AZE) and ’23 World bronze Poya Dad Marz (IRI), respectively. The Georgian still collected a bronze medal and was, certainly, once again positioned as a top medal threat for the ’24 non-Olympic World Championships this coming October.
Tsurtsumia’s international career began with a 10th-place finish at the ’13 Cadet Worlds but he would go on to earn both silver and bronze on the Junior level. As he continued to progress, success followed. In ’18, Tsurtsumia placed 3rd at the Senior World Championships and came away with gold at the U23 tournament less than a month later. One year hence, he downed Khorlan Zhakansha (KAZ) in the Senior World final. He added another bronze to his total in ’21, and finished as the World runner-up to Azizli in both ’22 and ’23.
Our prayers are with Tsurtsumia’s family and the Georgian Wrestling Federation.
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