The luminary of domestic sports medicine Zurab Ordzhonikidze celebrates his birthday

The professional path of Zurab Givievich began in 1982 after the end of the clinical residency of the N.N. Priorov Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics. The talented specialist was sent to the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, where he worked for many years as a trainer-doctor in the Department of Medical and Biological Support of the national teams.

At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Zurab Ordzhonikidze was part of the medical staff of the USSR football team, which won gold medals. For this historic triumph in 1989, he was awarded the Medal of Labor Distinction and received a personal diploma from the President of the International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch. In 1997, by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was awarded the honorary title “Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation”.

From 1992 to 1998, Zurab Givievich provided medical support to the Russian national football team, after which he moved to the Moscow Health Committee.

Rich experience and high professionalism made him a key figure in the organization of the largest sports forums. Zurab Ordzhonikidze is the chief doctor of all significant regional and international competitions held in the capital. His track record includes medical management of the World Ice Hockey Championships (2007 and 2016), the Rugby-7 and Athletics World Championships (2013), and the Fencing World Championships (2015).

At the XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014, Zurab Givievich headed the Mountain Polyclinic, organizing and leading the work of 700 specialists of the Moscow Health Department for uninterrupted medical support of the Games.

In parallel with practical activities, Zurab Givievich conducts fundamental scientific work. On June 5, 2009, he received the degree of Doctor of Medical Sciences. Under his leadership, the clinical and scientific units of the S.I. Spasokukotsky Center investigate the adaptive capabilities of the athletes’ body to extreme physical exertion in conditions of fierce international competition, diagnosing and correcting the functional states of athletes.

Peru authoritative scientist owns more than 150 scientific articles on physical therapy and sports medicine, published in domestic and foreign specialized publications. In 2008, his book “Physiology of Football” was published, which became the first in the history of national sports medicine fundamental work entirely devoted to this game.

The merits of Zurab Ordzhonikidze were noted at the highest state and international levels. He was awarded the Honorary Medal of the President of the Russian Federation, as well as many certificates and gratitude from the heads of the Ministry of Health of Russia, the Government of Moscow and the International Olympic Committee.

Zurab Givievich is not only an outstanding doctor, but also a talented poet and songwriter of his own composition, a person of inexhaustible vital energy and optimism. While working in the national teams of the USSR and Russia, he was always the soul of the company, caring not only about the health of athletes and coaches, but also about the friendly, warm climate in the team.

The editorial board of the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets wholeheartedly congratulates its long-time good friend, Zurab Givievich, on his birthday and with all his heart wishes good health, inexhaustible vital energy, warmth, family well-being and new professional victories for the benefit of national medicine and sports.