When he was a teenager and ordered himself a drink or food at an "Aroma" branch, Artyom Dolgupyat (25) says that he used to say at the counter that his name was Dima.
Were you ashamed of Artyom's name?
"No. Because I knew there was no way they would write the name down correctly and say it properly over the loudspeaker when my food was ready," he laughs.
Today, after he became a national pride, everyone already knows who he is and even his last name, Dol-Go-Fiat, is usually correct.
Just a month ago he won a gold medal again, this time at the European Championships in Munich, overcoming a nagging injury.
And in general, after a dream year of coveted titles, it seems that he is on the sure path to becoming the most successful Israeli athlete ever.
But the work is hard and never ends.
For example, tonight, when we all sit around the table and celebrate Rosh Hashanah, Artyom will be in the competition again.
in Paris.
"I will not be here on New Year's Eve. I am leaving on Thursday for two competitions. The first in Paris, where I will also be on the eve of the holiday, and the second in Hungary. These are very important competitions for me in preparation for the World Championships in October."
Artyom Dolgofyat, photo: AFP
Are you upset not to be in Israel for the holiday?
"This is my life," he says in a rare personal interview, "It's not difficult. I'm used to it and I love it. I wish myself a healthy year, not to get injured, God forbid. This year I have to make the criteria for the Olympics in Paris, so I have many important goals ahead of me." .
For a moment he stopped.
smiling and laughing.
what do you remember
"Just last night I dreamed about Paris. About the Olympics there in two years. I dreamed that I came in second place."
Is this a bad dream or a good one?
"I was really sad. Because after that, everyone said: 'Hey, he already has gold from Tokyo. Why is he bringing the money. Do you understand? It was like I went down... that's why I was sad.'
Artyom Dolgupyat and the gold medal in Tokyo (archive), photo: Reuters
The "cat" that falls on your feet
"The cat" - that's what he is called today thanks to his phenomenal ability to fall on his feet after high jumps and complicated somersaults and immediately stand up with impressive stability - no longer knows what it is to lose.
"When I entered the court, in my floor exercise in Munich, I was really shaking. I haven't experienced such a feeling for a long time. But it was released and I did the exercise. Because of the injury, my victory made me happier than usual. Inside, so deep inside me, I said yes, yes, without shouting. Everything is inside, with myself."
How are you always so reserved?
"You know, at the Olympics in Tokyo I really wanted to cry after I won the gold medal. I did a not-so-best exercise in the final, and my competitors could pass me and there was a lot of pressure. Then when I realized that I had won, and also the gold medal, I stood and my face was crying, but no tears came out. No I managed to cry."
In terms of his official titles, Dolgopiat is currently the Olympic champion in the floor exercise in apparatus gymnastics from the Tokyo Olympics held in Japan a year ago and the European champion in the floor exercise at the European Championships held in Munich last month.
In the gold medal in Tokyo he saw a good start, pushed forward with all his might and succeeded again, against all odds.
"I injured my right leg, probably due to strain, and I didn't train or jump for two and a half weeks," he says, "When I started to return to training, I only had two and a half weeks to prepare for the European Championships in Munich. I came to the competition and in the ground exercise I did a less good exercise and almost didn't make it to the finals. A little scary, but in the end I did a good exercise and I was the happiest man to win the gold medal, exactly 50 years after the massacre of our 11 athletes there. The day before the final we held a ceremony and went to the athletes' quarters, where it happened. I was very excited and proud when I stood on the podium as the winner and they voiced our hope ".
national hero
Artium in Tokyo, Japan 2021 (archive), photo: AFP
And now, after the championship, take some time off?
"I had three days off, but I returned to training after two days. I told Masha that we would take a longer vacation after the World Championships in October, which will be held in Liverpool. I need to work on a new, stronger exercise, raise the degree of difficulty, add another element. So I have to Prepare with all your might. Properly."
At the age of 6 he was thrown to the mattress
He was born in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
Brother to Maxim (28) and son to Oleg (55) and Angela (47).
"In my city there are fewer fights today, but there are alarms and everything. I don't have family there, but I have a coach here, Andrey Grivanov, who raised and trained me from the age of 6 to 12, and if there is a family there. So we talk and I am updated on what is happening. This war A terrible thing, it doesn't matter if it's in Israel or Ukraine."
His career began when his father Oleg, who was a gymnast himself, "threw" him straight to the mat at the age of 6.
Artyom Dolgofyat with his father Oleg (archive), photo: no
What do you remember from then?
"That I traveled on buses for an hour and a half to two hours for training in my city. I would fall asleep on the bus, and the drivers would wake me up at the stop where I had to get off. It was difficult for me. I also suffered as a child from training. Millions of times I said, enough, I don't want to. I told my mother that too Mine. She told me to try more. To continue because they see that I am talented and can succeed in gymnastics. According to what my parents say, they saw from the beginning that I had good data."
Did you suffer all the time?
"I didn't suffer every day, but there are difficult moments when you come back from training and hardly go out with friends, and they tell you, come on, come on, let's go out, be with us, we don't see you, and I came dead tired from training and I didn't do so well either , so you come home broken."
But he continued.
He says that in his neighborhood the children started smoking at the age of 8, and the sport helped him to be in a different place in life.
"I grew up in such a neighborhood that only our family and one other child were fine. The other children less so. Gymnastics gave me a different place."
Have you experienced racism in Ukraine?
"I didn't experience anti-Semitism. Especially in Israel, I was sometimes called 'Ya Russian' and such. It happened when I went to parks with friends, mostly. I never took it seriously and I wasn't hurt by it. I just didn't give it room to affect me."
His first time as champion of Ukraine was at the age of "8, 9, something like that".
And it only happened because another boy was injured and could not participate in the competition.
"He broke a finger in the last practice before the competition and I was jumped. I wasn't 100 percent ready, but I won and I won."
Artyom Dolgupyat with coaches Sergey Weisburg and Andrey Grivanov after winning in Tokyo (archive), photo: courtesy of the Israel Gymnastics Association
When he was 12 years old, his parents decided to immigrate to Israel.
"My parents worked hard in Ukraine so that we would have what we needed. So that I could exercise," he says.
"It wasn't easy to live with us then. I was a small child, so I don't really know what motivated them to immigrate to Israel."
where did you start
"We found an apartment in Rishon Lezion, really small. You go straight into the living room and here is the kitchen, here is the parents' room, and for us, my brother and I, there was a bedroom, without even a door, without anything. There were just two beds there, and we slept there."
Without knowing Hebrew, he started trying to fit in.
His first stop and the one that occupied most of his time was of course the Hadar Yosef gymnasium, where he trained as part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Association.
"The next day we came to Israel, my coach Sergey took me to train," recalls Artyom.
"I heard the gymnasts and coaches speak Hebrew and that's how I picked up the language. I didn't go to the studio."
He began studying at Shobach Moft School in Tel Aviv, where he found a common language with the students and teachers.
"All the teachers and boys at the school were Russian. Of course they teach in Hebrew, but it helped me a lot that everyone also spoke Russian. I fit in well there and even had my own unique thing. My friends asked me to do somersaults for them, and that may have also helped me in fitting in. There is I have friends from there to this day."
Artyom Dolgofyat lands in Israel (archive),
Didn't you have crises, congestion, difficulties along the way?
"The trips were long and the training was difficult. There were also moods and times when I didn't feel like going to training. Before we went to Israel I had some stomach problems and I missed training in Ukraine because of it. When we arrived in Israel, the stomach problems continued and I had pain. Then the pain stopped, but I I continued to use it when I didn't have the strength to go to training. I would say that my stomach hurts, I wouldn't go to training and stay with friends to play near the school."
Then one boy beat me
When he was 15, two important events occurred in Artyom's life.
"Until the age of 14-15, I always won competitions," he says.
"Then another boy beat me, and I said: What is this? Where did I end up losing? It challenged me. A lot. From that moment on, a big transformation took place in me and I didn't say that my stomach hurt anymore, I was very serious. It spurred me on to put everything into gymnastics and succeed."
The second event happened when Artyom's parents separated.
"When it happened, I wasn't at home that much. I went to school in the morning, then I went to practice and came home at nine thirty in the evening. So I didn't really witness what happened at home."
were you shocked
"Of course, yes."
did you cry
"Maybe, a few times, yes. On the other hand, I'm the kind of person who accepts things."
His mother left the house and moved to another apartment in Rishon Lezion.
"In the beginning I stayed with my father for a while, then I moved to my mother. I have an excellent relationship with both of them. I lived with my mother for a long time until I moved to live alone, and I talk to my father every day on the phone, he understands gymnastics. He also comes to some of my competitions, he was now in Munich and very happy about my achievement.
"At that time I discovered that gymnastics was a very safe place for me, so I had to leave the school because I would fly a lot. The principal was really fine with me, he would have released me before the time for training but he no longer had a choice. Then I made the decision that this was it, I was left with Only gymnastics and that's what I'm going to do in life."
The heir of Stilov
He finished 12 years of study at a private school where his mother took him, and focused entirely on gymnastics.
The results were not long in coming.
Seven years ago, at the age of 18, he dethroned the legendary gymnast Alex Shatilov for the first time and won the Israeli championship in the floor exercise, which is considered Shatilov's strongest exercise.
Five years ago he won the silver medal at the World Championships held in Montreal.
He continued admirably in his performance and it was already clear: a successor to Shtilov had arisen.
Four years ago, Artyom won the silver medal at the European Championships in Scotland.
A year later he won the silver medal again at the World Championships in Germany.
Two years ago, at the European Championships in Turkey, Dolgopiat won two medals: gold in the floor exercise and bronze in the springboard.
A year ago, at the Tokyo Olympics, he reached the great peak of his sporting life when he won a historic gold medal in gymnastics in the floor exercise.
Didn't it cross your mind to retire on a high, like what Linoy Ashram did after she won a gold medal in artistic gymnastics?
"Before Tokyo, I told myself that no matter what happens in the Olympics, I will continue to the Olympics in Paris in two years. Winning the gold there did not change my plans."
Was n't
there any drop in tension after the Olympics?
"There was. And I went on a week's vacation to the Maldives with Masha. I took a short vacation and came back with renewed strength. I worked on a new ground exercise because they changed the constitution, and with it I reached the European Championships now."
First love and long distance relationship
Seven years ago he met Masha (26), his first girlfriend and the love of his life.
"We were in a training camp in Belarus and we went out to spend some time in a cafe."
Artyom Dolgopiat with his partner (archive), photo: Sivan Farge
but you are shy Do you approach her?
"Somehow yes. She was not alone but with friends, and we were a group and we all connected. We started talking and after that evening we continued to correspond on Facebook. Then we returned to Israel and continued to correspond. It was at the beginning of December. It continued to develop, what caught my attention was that she was smart and beautiful And I asked her: Maybe you'll come to Israel? And she came. At the end of January. She came for a week's visit. At that time, she studied in Belarus for a bachelor's degree in literature."
Well, and you left the training and spent time only with her?
"No... I went for training and for Masha I arranged organized trips to Israel. In Jerusalem, Haifa, the Dead Sea. To this day she hates me for that. She didn't like the trips. She was really cold here at the end of January. She thought that Israel wasn't that cold , so she didn't bring warm things to wear. She would return from the trip to my mother's house at five in the afternoon, and I returned at eight in the evening from training."
And she put up with all this?
"Yes. I apologized quite a bit for that."
Masha returned to Belarus and for two years the relationship was conducted remotely.
"It wasn't easy. Although she came here once every two months for a week, and sometimes I would fly to her after a competition abroad.
But it was little and most of the time the contact was over the phone.
This caused a lot of fights.
Masha accepted from the beginning that I exercise, but it bothered us that we couldn't spend time together.
that she goes out alone with friends and that I go out here alone."
It didn't cross your mind, why do I need it, I want to retire and that's it
?
"No. I would come to gymnastics and forget about it."
Artyom says that what kept the relationship going was simply love.
Four years ago, after Masha finished her degree, she came here, they got together and she teaches English here at a private school.
Two years ago they got engaged and now live in a rented apartment in Netanya.
Did you propose to her?
"I bought her a ring, and then one day she asked: 'Well, come on, when are you going to propose?'
I asked: 'When do you want?'
She said 'tomorrow', half joking. That evening we made a reservation at a restaurant. When we got there, I stole the ring from the waitress. I asked her to put it nicely in the cake at the end of the meal. The waitress put the ring in the cake. Masha took a bite. I also ate slowly, but The ring was in the middle of the cake and she didn't notice. In the end I took the ring with the spoon and let her eat. Suddenly she felt it in her mouth. Then, in the middle of the restaurant, she jumped on me and said yes. She shows more emotions than I do. I'm more introverted. Shy. Everyone They applauded us in the restaurant. It was fun."
But not everything is honey with Artyom and Masha.
They cannot marry in Israel.
"It's because of the laws in Israel. From a non-Jewish woman. Next summer we will fly abroad and get married.
There is no pressure, we live together, all the time together, everything is fine."
Returning home exhausted
His agenda is tough.
He gets up at eight in the morning, eats oatmeal with a banana and cranberries, and travels from Netanya to training at the Wingate Institute.
Morning training starts at nine thirty and ends at twelve thirty.
"After the morning training, I go to eat lunch here and return to the gym. I just lie down on the mattress in the gym and take a short nap, fall asleep for about 40 minutes.
All gymnasts do it.
The afternoon training starts at half past two until five or six in the evening.
On Tuesday and Friday there is only morning training.
After training he returns home.
"I'm tired in the evening, but sometimes we go out, Masha and I, to restaurants, to the movies. We usually make a good dinner together. Chicken breast, fish, salad. I need to eat a lot of protein."
do you know how to cook
"Sometimes I prepare the fish in the evening, the salad, whatever is needed. When I met Masha, she only ate Caesar salad. Then I started taking her to restaurants and told her, eat steak too. I taught her to eat good things."
He himself "eats everything", but is strict about his diet three weeks before a competition and mainly cuts down on carbohydrates.
He is 1.62 m tall, weighs 59 kg and in competitions his weight is about 57 kg.
Regarding Hebrew, he says that Masha understands well and speaks a little.
He still has difficulties.
"It's more difficult for me to read and write in Hebrew. I'd rather have someone read and I'll listen to it. I tried to learn it and even read a book in Hebrew. After that I bought a children's book 'The Island on the Street of the Birds'. I read it and had fun. I tried another book and it was difficult for me, so I just stopped."
Are you thinking about expanding the family?
"There were several times when we were sure that we were pregnant or that I already had a child. One day we were at the Ministry of the Interior in Netanya, Masha and I, and there is also an ultrasound institute upstairs. Someone met me there and asked me: 'What, Masha is pregnant?'
I said 'No,' so he said: 'Enough, don't lie, they saw you on the ultrasound.' Lior and Masha for my competition in Minsk three years ago.
"On the way back, on the plane, he was with me and Masha, so everyone thought I was already the father of a little boy and asked and got interested. And he's my brother after all. Obviously we have thoughts about expanding the family, but right now we're really not there yet."
Are you connected to Israel
?
"Sure. Absolutely. I've been here for many years, more than half my life, I also served in the army of course. I was a sergeant's employee at Tel Hashomer.
A sweeper, a bin changer, everything you need.
It was not easy for me to combine it with gymnastics.
I was there five or six hours a day.
It wasn't easy with my training routine.
Here I feel obliged to thank all my partners who provide me with a warm and supportive environment that allows me to focus on my professional progress.
To Bank Hapoalim, who accompanied me in the campaign to Tokyo and continues to accompany me to Paris 2024, to Yaakov Shahar with the Honda brand, to Strauss' Danone Pro, to Fujitsu, with whom I have already campaigned for the second time, and to the construction company Azoulai Group.
"Thank you also to my club, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, who has accompanied me from the beginning of my journey, to coaches Sergey Weisburg and Andrey Grivanov, to the Gymnastics Association, to the Israel Olympic Committee and to the Sports Achievements Unit.
Special thanks to my physiotherapist Adam Bedir, my personal manager Vared Atzmon, Beruria Bigman, and of course my family."
Artyom Dolgofiat.
Thanks to the physiotherapists, photo: AFP
How are you doing financially?
"A year ago we bought a house in Netanya. It has three rooms and is close to my training at Wingate. I drive a 2018 Honda Civic car that Yaakov Shahar's Meir company provided me. It is not my car. I receive a lot of support and feel financially calm. I have all the conditions to focus in my training and competitions. Recently I started to get interested and read about financial possibilities, to expand my knowledge in the field, to see what to do with the money and how to make some progress."
you have friends? Do you even have time for that?
"I have some good ones from Shobach Moft school. I am in touch with them to this day. And from gymnastics, of course. I have a soulmate named Ilan Korchek, who was a good gymnast and became a coach. He helped me a lot in life."
Is Alex Stilov your friend?
"More like a big brother, it seems to me. He is ten years older than me. Now he is the manager of the national team, so he came to meet us and we talk. He was the sporting ideal for me. I knew he had achievements and that's how I looked at him. One day we were abroad together.
Alex entered the finals in the competition there and I almost entered.
Some coach jokingly said: 'Alex, he will soon step on your heels'.
I knew half Hebrew then and I said: 'Why soon?
I'm already stepping'.
And everyone laughed.
When we immigrated to Israel, my father set me the goal of passing Alex Stilov.
I said to him: 'Tell me, are you normal?'"
Well, you finally passed it.
"Not yet. Okay, I have an Olympic medal, and I have medals from the European and World Championships, but he has seven medals from the European Championships and two from the World Championships. So there is another way."
Want a selfie with the champion
Now he is recognized on the street.
Even when he goes to a movie or a restaurant.
"On Friday we went to a movie in Russian here in Netanya. Everyone wants to take a selfie with me. It happens at the mall, at the supermarket, everywhere. After the Olympics, a year ago, my Instagram account jumped from 7,000 to 40,000 followers. I have more fun now that people recognize Me. It doesn't bother me. It really makes me happy that people know I'm in apparatus gymnastics. Once they didn't even know what gymnastics was. Slowly it's getting recognition. I hope one day it will reach the level of football."
And speaking of football, Artyom was recently seen in the stands of honor of Maccabi Haifa.
What, they won't kill you at Maccabi Tel Aviv?
"I used to not be interested in any sport. In football I only knew Messi, Ronaldo and such. After Yankel' Shachar, the owner of Maccabi Haifa, invited us several times to the team's games, I became interested and got into it and started to be a fan of Maccabi Haifa."
He is a sensitive man.
"Sometimes I can cry in this or that movie," he says.
"When my girlfriend is nervous or when I don't do well in training, I'm sad."
You are already a hero and national pride in Israel, you know?
"Are you trying to stress me out?"
God forbid, but we are before the Olympics in Paris.
"To Paris... Oh, oh, oh."
Do you feel like a world champion?
"I feel like the world champion, but I don't think about it. It will only stress me out and give me all kinds of thoughts."
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