The Dr. William P. Sexton Award - 2023: Guiorgie “Gia” Kvaratskhelia
2023: Guiorgie “Gia” Kvaratskhelia
Now entering his 10th season at the helm of the Notre Dame fencing program, Guiorgie “Gia” Kvaratskhelia has perhaps done more to rewrite the Fighting Irish record books than anyone who came before him. Just last month, Kvaratskhelia and the Irish captured the program’s 13th national championship— the fifth during his head coach tenure — becoming the first team on campus to win three consecutive titles.
Since joining the Irish staff as an assistant in 2007, Kvaratskhelia has overseen a thriving foil program. Irish foilists have captured 11 individual national titles since 2010, including four-time winner Lee Kiefer ’17 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017) and two-time winners Gerek Meinhardt ’13, ’15 MBA (2010, 2015) and Nick Itkin ’22 (2018, 2019). Additionally, since assuming the head coaching role ahead of the 2015 season, Kvaratskhelia has overseen 13 individual champions across all three weapons categories, including sabreuse Francesca Russo ’18 (2015, 2017) and junior sabreur Luke Linder (2021, 2023).
Kvaratskhelia has also led the Irish to extraordinary success in conference competition, with the men’s and women’s squads claiming seven Atlantic Coast Conference Championships each. He has led Irish fencers to 43 out of a possible 54 individual conference weapons titles and has been named ACC Coach or Co-Coach of the Year five times each on both the men’s and women’s sides.
Kvaratskhelia — who became a United States citizen in 2004 — immigrated to the U.S. in 1994 from the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. After coming to the U.S., he ventured into coaching at the club level and remained active in his own fencing career. In 1993, he received his bachelor’s degree in physical education and sport from the Georgian State Physical Training Institute in his hometown of Tbilisi and earned a sports journalism certificate from that institution in 1992.
Kvaratskhelia and his wife, Dani Edson, have one daughter, Maya, and one son, Alexander.
“I'm truly humbled to receive the Dr. William P. Sexton Award. It has been a privilege to work with my many colleagues and friends here at Notre Dame and to serve the extraordinary students who come here. I hope to continue to live up to the standard that the past recipients have set.”