The European Games that concluded this Sunday in Wroclaw (Poland) left a mark in history. Georgian shooter (and legend) Nino Salukvadze secured her presence at Paris 2024, where she would become the first athlete in history to participate in ten consecutive Games.
Salukvadze, 54, failed to medal in Wroclaw and fell just off the podium in his event, the 25-meter pistol shot, but qualifying for the final has already guaranteed him a place at next year's Games representing to Georgia.
Her participation in Tokyo already made her the woman with the most Olympics behind her (9) and in Paris, with her tenth Olympic appearance, she would be the first athlete to compete in ten Games in a row and would equal the ten appearances that the Canadian rider established in London 2012.
Salukvadze made his Olympics debut at the 1988 Seoul event, when he was still defending the flag of the Soviet Union, and has not lost a Games since. In Barcelona, four later, he would compete under the Unified Team banner despite the fact that a year earlier Georgia had won its independence.
In the list of winners of the Georgian legend there are three Olympic medals, one of each metal. In his debut, in Seoul, he took gold in the 25-meter air pistol event and silver in the 10-meter event. In Beijing, in 2008, she would achieve bronze in the 10-meter event. In addition, Salukvadze has been the flag-bearer of Georgia on two occasions: 2012 and 2020.
The longevity of the athlete from Tibilisi has also allowed her to establish another beautiful record. At the Rio 2016 event, Salukvadze became the first mother to compete with her son (Tsone) in the Olympic Games.
