On June 15, Eteri Liparteliani stepped onto the mat at the World Judo Championships and changed the course of Georgian sports history. With calm precision, she defeated Japan’s Tamaoki Momo in the 57kg final, becoming the first Georgian woman to win a world title in judo. Not just a medal. A gold one.
For those who have followed her path, this moment did not arrive unexpectedly. Liparteliani has been shaping her place in the sport for nearly a decade. At sixteen, she won the Cadet European Championships. By 2019, she had swept the junior circuit—World Champion, European Junior Champion, U23 European Champion. In 2024, she claimed Georgia’s first Grand Slam title in senior judo.
But this victory is different. It does not just confirm her skill. It shifts the image of what success in judo has looked like in Georgia, a country where male champions have long defined the field. Until now.
There is something striking in the way Liparteliani carries this moment. Without spectacle or slogans, she has made space for a different story. One where a woman in a white judogi stands on the top of the podium not as a surprise, but as something fully earned. Fully hers.
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