Eskerkhan Madiev

Member of Georgia’s national boxing team

Olympic games 2021 (fourth place)

Champion of Georgia (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019)

Champion of Europe (2016, 2017)

Prize winner of European championship (2015, third place)

“When I came to Georgia from Chechnya, boxing was already my favourite sport, which I followed professionally. I started training intensively and since 2013, I’ve become the champion of Georgia almost every year.

I haven’t ancountered any barriers in my sports career or personal life because of my ethnic background. No one has ever made me feel that I am from another country and have no right to live here or compete in the name of this country. I have never felt that I have fewer opportunities than others to realise my potential.

Georgian boxing team is very ethnically diverse. It includes Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Georgians and we all get along very well, we are friends and we are like one family. No one is favoured in sports simply because they represent an ethnic majority.

We live on one Earth; we are all humans and why should our origin matter?! If a person is a good person, to me it's all the same if they are from Africa, Europe, America or any other continent - the main thing in personal relationships is to be a good person, and in sports it is important to be a good athlete.

I only compete in the name of Georgia internationally. I have been offered to compete in the name of Chechnya many times too, but I always refuse. I’ve been accepted by Georgia, and a person’s homeland is the place where s/he has been accepted. I am ready to continue working hard and improve my results at the international level as much as possible, in the name of my country.“