Among the Padma awardees for the year 2026, announced on January 25 (Sunday), one name surprised many, but the surprise was of a happy nature rather than bewilderment. Vladimir Mestvirishvili was awarded the Padma Shri posthumously. The name might sound odd and also a bit off in the current context, given that he had not been associated with anything of late.
But to those who follow wrestling, this award is possibly the greatest tribute that India could have given to the Georgian, who dedicated the last two decades of his life to shaping wrestling and wrestlers in the country. He helped make India one of the powerhouses of the sport in the world before passing away in June 2025.
Who was Vladimir Mestvirishvili?
The wrestler from Georgia belonged to a rare breed of people who devoted their entire lives to a single cause. Already a famous name in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) style of wrestling, Mestvirishvili came to India in 2003, having produced European, World, and Olympic champions for the Georgian and USSR wrestling contingents.
When he joined the Indian wrestling team at the behest of the Wrestling Federation of India, he had to start everything from scratch. In a statement by Yogeshwar Dutt, the 2012 London Olympic bronze medalist and one of the most famed disciples of Mestvirishvili, the Georgian never restricted himself to the mat and his chambers. Rather, he was a man who carved defensive wrestlers, training them brilliantly to switch their styles from the mud to the mat.
“Usne hamein ladna sikhaya (he taught us how to fight),” Dutt said, as quoted by the Indian Express. Bajrang Punia, a bronze medalist from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, added, “Today, our standing in world wrestling is respected because of him. He dedicated his life, at least the last two decades of his life, to Indian wrestling.”
Why Padma Shri is a fitting ovation to the great ‘Laado’
Ever since Mestvirishvili arrived, he changed the way wrestling is looked at. Affectionately called “Laado” among the wrestlers, he gave India its second-ever Olympic medal in wrestling through Sushil Kumar, a bronze in the 2008 Beijing Games. This was followed by a silver for Sushil and a bronze for Yogeshwar in London 2012. In 2016, although no man could win a wrestling medal, the sport did not return empty-handed as Sakshi Malik won the first-ever medal for a female Indian wrestler at the Olympics.
Though the Georgian’s contract came to an end after the Rio 2016 Olympics, he never left India. Shifting base from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Sonipat to the “mine” of Indian wrestling, Chhatrasal Stadium in New Delhi, Mestvirishvili continued to hone the skills of the likes of Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya, and Deepak Punia, all of whom medaled at either the Olympics or World Championships.
They say not everyone gets their due when they deserve it, but eventually, time has a way of balancing things. Mestvirishvili, despite taking Indian wrestling to new heights, never received the Dronacharya Award, the highest honour for a coach in India. But as time would have it, he has now become the first-ever overseas sporting personality to be awarded the Padma Shri for his contribution to Indian sport.