Georgian enduro racer Giorgi Gakheladze rides 33 kilometres on water, sets new world record

Giorgi Gakheladze, a Georgian rider participating in motorcycle sports for off-road and cross-country courses, became the first competitor from the country by riding a motorcycle across the surface of the water and setting a new world record by covering a 33-kilometre distance from Georgia’s Black Sea coastline Kobuleti to Poti.

Gakheladze surpassed the world record of an Australian freestyle motocross rider, Robbie Maddison, who had covered 32 kilometres across the waters of Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait in 2021, the Poti City Hall said this week.

He reached a speed of 100 kilometres per hour on his first try on water to a depth of 35 metres.

The rider also rode a distance of two kilometres across a portion of the 45-metre-deep Tbilisi Sea lake in the capital on a motorcycle equipped for the purpose last year, becoming one of only three riders in the world to have crossed a significant distance on the water.

The 23-year-old is an undefeated champion of Georgian enduro races since 2017.