Artem Dolgopyat won Israel’s first Olympic medal in gymnastics, something his friend and mentor Alexander Shatilov has been trying to do at four consecutive Olympics. Dolgopyat also made history by winning only the second gold medal ever for Israel in any sport. His medal took the country by storm. Before, the sport didn’t get that much attention and people were generally not quite sure whether men’s artistic gymnastics was the one with the ribbons or the hoops. The sport was gradually getting more recognition and billboards with Shatilov and Dolgopyat were on the major streets of Tel Aviv this summer leading up to the Olympics. Still, many people had not heard Dolgopyat’s name before yesterday and now he’s suddenly one of the most popular figures – on all the front pages of the newspapers and trending on social media. The Prime Minister of Israel even stopped the Cabinet meeting to call Dolgopyat after the final to congratulate him.
Dolgopyat isn’t used to being recognized and said in an interview to Sport One that he’s not yet sure how he’ll deal with the newfound popularity.
Q: How does it feel to be the reason the anthem is playing at the Olympics?
A: I’ve already heard the anthem at the championships I went to but never before at the Olympics. This, of course, is very touching. In 2019, at the World Championships, I did not manage to put the anthem on. I lost by one tenth. But I managed to do it here. I wanted to cry on the medal podium but couldn’t because I was in a storm of emotions. I cried on the inside.
Q: What was harder – to wait for your routine when I competed fourth or to wait for the rest of the routines after you until you were sure you had a medal?
A: If I had done a good routine like the one in the qualification, I would have been less stressed. But I didn’t do my best routine and I was very stressed after the routine and couldn’t stay calm.
Q: When did you realize you won gold?
A: When the Kazakh gymnast [Milad Karimi] who competed last had a mistake on his second pass, I knew that I would have gold. At that moment I knew it was mine.
Q: What’s your next competition?
A: It seems like there will be World Championships in October and I’ll fly there. I need to think about new routines and, of course, my big aspiration is to repeat the medal at the 2024 Olympics. This is now the next dream – a second Olympic medal.
Q: Alex Shatilov is surely happy for you.
A: We are like two brothers. He’s the older brother and I’m the younger. Alex accompanied me throughout my career. I’m happy that I was by his side. He pushed me forward.
Q: Do you understand that you’re number one in the world on floor?
A: I never feel like I’m the best in the world and I didn’t feel that today either. When I came back from various championships, I never said that I’m the best, that’s how I am, modest. And it won’t change today. In gymnastics, you just have to go out, do your best, get a high score, and that’s it. You shouldn’t think about anything else.
Q: How will you deal with all the attention you’ll get at home?
A: I honestly don’t know. I don’t know how people do that. We’ll come back and see.
Dolgopyat’s final routine was not as clean as the one in the qualification and he was afraid it would not be enough:
“I did not believe that I’d reach gold. I didn’t have a very clean routine and thought that it wouldn’t be enough for gold. In the middle of the routine, I thought it was all over, but I wanted to finish well in order to get into the top three. I’ve gone through eight difficult days while waiting between the qualification and the final. Each day was harder than the one before, I just couldn’t wait anymore, and suddenly yesterday I said, “Wow, that’s tomorrow! Why is there so little time left? I’ve always missed out on the gold at World Championships and now I realize that I won the most important gold medal ever, but I haven’t yet processed it.”
As a true Ashkenazi Jewish parent, Dolgopyat’s father Oleg, also a former gymnast, said that even though his son did a good job, he could’ve done better:
“I don’t have words to describe what I’m feeling now. He worked so hard in order to get there. My heart is jumping, I can’t contain what’s happening inside me. Everything’s jumping. I’m so so happy, thanks so much to my son, thanks so much to his coaches. No matter what, he could’ve done much better, but we don’t judge the winners.”
Support Gymnovosti on Patreon from only $1 a month and help us bring to you even more awesome gymnastics coverage!
