"I experienced a crisis, I asked myself if I was still worthy": Artem Dolgopyat in a special interview

In the first acrobatic sequence in the floor exercise final on Friday evening in Zagreb, both of Artem Dolgopyat's heels went out of bounds. A year earlier, a fall in the same event cost him a medal and caused him, unusually, to doubt his abilities. This time, at age 29, after an exhausting all-around and against a young generation breathing down his neck, the gymnast from Maccabi Tel Aviv did not allow the mistake to affect him. The Israeli gymnast recovered immediately, completed the exercise, received 14.466 points, and climbed back to the place he knows so well — the top of the podium at the European Championships. His third continental title in the floor exercise finally cemented his status as a true legend in one of the three core Olympic disciplines and as one of the highest-quality and most decorated floor gymnasts ever.

After Deni Avdija's selection to the NBA All-Star game and his tremendous season in Portland, a debate developed around the identity of the greatest Israeli athlete. Avdija versus Dolgopyat in a photo finish. Although it is difficult to compare a team sport to an individual one, and the popularity and exposure are completely different, the scale still tips towards the individual athlete who has recorded unprecedented achievements in a leading Olympic sport. Even after becoming a giant of his generation, in a comprehensive and special interview for Yedioth Ahronoth and Ynet from the hotel, Dolgopyat was careful to maintain his characteristic modesty.

"I know that many say I am the greatest Israeli athlete. I want to believe that I am among the greatest in my sport. There was Alex Shatilov, and now me. There was a discourse comparing me to Deni Avdija, so he is the greatest in basketball and I am the greatest in gymnastics," he said. — "There doesn't have to be a decision. Everyone can think what they want. I am not offended or hurt if someone thinks it's Avdija and not me. For me, it is most important that every Israeli athlete who gives their all to reach great moments is appreciated. Everyone should be given appreciation, especially in such difficult times for the country."

Dolgopyat established his status as the highest-quality floor gymnast in the history of the European Championships the day before yesterday. In the total number, he equaled his mentor, Shatilov — seven medals each — but the distribution puts him in a league of his own: three gold and four silver. True, the Japanese Kenzo Shirai has five world medals in the floor exercise, and the Belarusian Vitaly Scherbo has three, but none of them stood on the Olympic podium in the apparatus. The Romanian Marian Dragulescu was a tremendous floor gymnast, with four European and four world titles, alongside one Olympic silver. The Spaniard Gervasio Deferr was crowned twice as an Olympic champion in vaulting, settled for Olympic silver and two world runner-up titles, without a medal at the European Championships. The Chinese Zou Kai garnered two consecutive Olympic gold medals in the floor exercise, finished twice as world runner-up, and added gold in the Asian Games. And now take Dolgopyat's output: Olympic gold and silver, a world championship and two runner-up titles, three European titles and four runner-up titles. A rare collection that places him, in the eyes of many, at the pinnacle of floor gymnasts of all time. Beyond the list of achievements, he is also a huge winner: all 12 of his medals in the floor exercise at the Olympic Games and the World and European Championships are gold or silver. Not a single bronze.

Just last year, in the season after the Olympic silver in Paris, Dolgopyat experienced a crisis. He finished seventh in the European Championship final — a position he is not used to — with a low result of 12.633 points. This time he arrived more prepared. His performance was reasonable, not exceptional by the standards he set, but enough for a score of 14.466 and a victory over the Russian Arseny Dukhov (14.333) and the Briton Harry Hepworth.

"I had a crisis after I fell at the last European Championship, and the Israeli Championship after it was also not good," Dolgopyat recounts candidly. — "Suddenly I started having doubts about my abilities. I had fears if I was even worthy at all, after I fell on an easy pass. It was during the war last year, so I took a break for myself, but I returned to training with an open mind."

Next month, Dolgopyat will compete in a Challenge Cup tournament in Paris, and the following month he will go to the World Championships in Rotterdam. But the more important competition, where it will be possible to achieve the criteria for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, will take place next year in China. The return of the Russian gymnasts, including Dukhov who stood next to him on the podium in Croatia, and the progress of the British, including the Olympic bronze medalist from Paris Jake Jarman, make the picture more complex. To this is added the gap in the difficulty level: 5.8 for Dolgopyat compared to rivals who reach 6.3. All these sharpen the challenge for a gymnast who defines age 24 as the peak age, and will be 31 at the next Olympic Games.

"I felt for myself that at age 24, in Tokyo, I was at my peak. Also in Paris, the Filipino Carlos Yulo, who won gold, was 24, and the Briton with the bronze medal was even two years younger," he notes. — "I see those who are children to me trying to do new things and say to myself: how do they manage to do it? But then I enter my gallery and see that I used to do things like that without thinking twice. Today it is much harder for me. I work on much more things around to prepare elements, but the injuries make it difficult and the all-around interferes."

Take, for example, a rising force like Dukhov, one of the symbols of the return of the Russian gymnasts. The world youth champion finished right after you in the floor exercise and also won silver in the all-around.

"It only proves that it is harder for me. I am seven years older than him. He is very talented, a crazy jumper. I saw him at the Russian Championship with a high-difficulty exercise, and for him, this is only his first European Championship. I know his father, I trained under him in acrobatics. He has very good genes. It is already harder for me to carry on in the exercises, but the fact is that I am still at the top. It is clear that after a gold medal it is easier for me to talk, especially after I didn't succeed last year. Towards the next World Championship in China, I will already work on increasing the difficulty level. I won't have time to do it for the competition in two months in Holland. It will interfere with my execution, and there is little time until then."

You also competed in the all-around, and the team achieved the ticket to the World Championship. But it takes a toll on you: six apparatuses, when the floor was the fifth station this time.

"I felt tired after the all-around qualifiers. I tried to recover in these two days, but it was not easy for me to go up to the floor final. However, I knew we did a good job and I tried to think only about the positive, to do the best I could. I made a big mistake on the first pass. I ran too much because I felt tired, and both my heels were out. But I stepped with one foot, so the penalty was lighter. The rest of the exercise was generally good, and I am happy and excited that I finished the championship with a third gold at the European Championship."

Four years have passed since your previous gold at the European Championship, and this is your 12th medal in the floor exercise in major competitions. Still excited?

"I don't know how it's possible not to be excited about a gold medal at the European Championship. At the end of the day, every athlete needs to do their craziest work, to give their best in every competition. From year to year it gets harder. The weight on the shoulders grows, everyone expects from you. Luckily I succeed, but the competition against the young is harder, and therefore one needs to work smarter."

As an Israeli — and one who won the gold medal at the World Championship on October 7 — how are you received?

"I am received 100 percent. What is good about sports is that at least the athletes don't look at where you are from. Luckily, I didn't hear boos or things like that, certainly not in major competitions. In any case, I am focused on my affairs. We have security that I trust 100 percent, and my job is to play 'Hatikvah'. This is the most exciting part: to stand at the top of the podium, to sing 'Hatikvah' and to see the Israeli flag rising the highest."

On the way to an Olympic peak, is there already a fantasy to be the first with three Olympic medals in the floor exercise?

"You know me, I don't look that far ahead. The Olympics in Los Angeles is like in ten years for me. I haven't done the criteria for it yet, so to talk about a medal?"