Paralympic champion Zviad Gogotchuri arrested and removed from Games

Police have arrested Paralympian Zviad Gogotchuri from Georgia who they say has admitted assaulting a security guard at a hotel in Tokyo. Zviad Gogotchuri of Georgia is the Paralympic Champion of 2016 in Rio. The police say Paralympic judoka Zviad Gogotchuri is suspected of shoving the guard, who suffered a broken rib, last Thursday.

The 34-year-old athlete won a gold medal at the Rio 2016 Games.

Investigators say the incident occurred after the guard, in his 60s, warned Gogotchuri and some other Georgian athletes to stop making noise in a hotel corridor.

The police arrested Gogotchuri on Monday following questioning. Investigators believe he was drunk at the time of the incident.

They say Gogotchuri admitted to the allegations, saying he had no excuse for his actions.

Gogotchuri, with a visual impairment won the IBSA European Championships in Lisbon in the U90kg competition. In 2015 he won the IBSA World Games in Seoul. In the non-disabled division he won the World Cup in Bucharest, Oberwart and Tbilisi and collected several World Cup medals. He participated at World and European Championships and won European gold with the team of Georgia in 2013 and 2014 and with his club team. Later he switched to the U100kg weight class and was the biggest favourite for the Paralympic title given his victories at the latest IBSA Grand Prix in Baku in May.