Tato Grigalashvili made history for Georgia when he won his third world title, in 2024. He has extended that record in 2026, in Baku; a hard-fought gold. After some time to breathe and reflect on his day, Tato was open and thoughtful about his preparation and achievements.
“I have to say thanks to everyone who has congratulated me, that comes first. Honestly, though, I’m not surprised at this moment. It’s doesn’t feel out of the ordinary. I have been working so hard; I’m doing everything that could be possible. All my energy has been put into this preparation period. I did this job and for me, it must lead to this result."
"Of course I’m happy after every victory, maybe even excited like a small child. Judo is my life. It’s my hobby, my work, my life. From three years old, I have had 23 years in the sport. The first time, it was new, but for the fourth time, I knew what must be done.
The first world championship gold is very difficult to achieve because you have to step up to a new level; you were not world champion before that point and didn’t have those experiences and feelings to draw on. Then after you win, you must stay in that shape permanently, to achieve it again, and one more time and once more. The first is the most important.”
What is behind the preparation for the World Championships and where does the Olympic Games sit for you?
“Everything in this whole four year cycle is aiming at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. At my first Games, in Tokyo, I was only thinking about gold. With those thoughts, I lost not only the chance to win gold but even the bronze; I placed fifth. In Paris, 3 years later, I was more satisfied with the outcome. I made it to the final and would go home with a medal.
In my mind, I set myself a challenge for the 2024 cycle. Even though Hidayat Heydarov is in a different weight category and is from a different country, he was building a list of wins: the Europeans, the worlds and the Olympic Games. At each event I was a day behind him. I had the first two golds and was preparing to do the same as him. I just missed out. Actually, I’m satisfied to have my first Olympic medal in Paris, even if not gold."
"Despite being settled with that individual result, I was disappointed that I couldn’t quite do it. The period was so short around these three events. It was a unique chance to have all three titles. Maybe some athletes look to win all three during their whole career but I saw this short period of a few months as a big chance.”
Despite the incredible results Tato has, he is also familiar with loss, yes, at the Olympic Games, but in other events too. “Against Arbuzov, I lost 3 times in big finals: The 2025 Europeans, the 2025 World Championships and this year’s Europeans. Of course he would be the main rival for me and I was preparing for a fight with him.”
At the 2024 World Championships, in Abu Dhabi, Tato beat Arbuzov in the final, which is also significant. “Before those finals that I lost, I was preparing in a totally different way from the way I am now. We had some changes in Georgia, our head coach moved on and the new coach comes with a different way. This changes our approach. We are going in a different direction now and we start to prepare for competitions differently."
"If Arbuzov had been here, I would have the same confidence as I did without him. I would still have had the right focus, I was ready. It doesn’t matter who is standing in front of me when I know I have done the right work. Maybe even more effort would have been needed, more energy, a lot of focus is needed to fight him, but I was ready.”
A world championship title offers more than a medal, no matter who the opponents are. In Baku Tato Grigalashvili felt something special after his final. “It was later that I saw Zelim Tckaev commenting in an interview in a really honest and open way. He said that I was better than him on the day and that there are no excuses. I really appreciated this. I want to say to him that I have a lot of respect for him and for what he said. We were so close in the final and maybe just a tiny element of preparation made the difference. He is a good man and I think we will be better friends going forward. He is my brother in the sport now.”
When the world is watching everything you do, the only way to move through it is to be yourself. The confident, dynamic Tatao the world sees on the tatami is exactly those things but he is also thoughtful and reflective about his life in judo. Bravo, Tato; four times a world champion!
