The greatest Israeli athlete in history: The achievements of Artem Dolgopyat
Two Olympic medals, a world gold, and three European championship titles — Artem Dolgopyat has already etched his name in the history books. From the unforgettable gold in Tokyo to the great moments on the podium, the Israeli continues to collect achievements and set a new bar. At 29, after having won almost every possible title, he is still looking forward — to the next dream, Los Angeles 2028.
Artem Dolgopyat has long been more than just a great gymnast. He has likely become the most successful Israeli athlete in history. One who has managed, time and again, to remain at the world's elite level in a sport where every small mistake can be the difference between a medal and a place off the podium.
Yesterday (Friday), in Zagreb, he added another glorious chapter to his career by winning the gold medal at the European Championships in the floor exercise for the third time. The European gold came after an especially busy week for the Israeli gymnast. Dolgopyat did not settle for participating in the floor exercise, but also competed in the all-around and helped the Israeli team finish in tenth place and secure the team qualification for the World Championships. The price was a significant physical load, and in the floor final, he felt the struggle with his body and the recovery process well. Despite this, precisely when the pressure was at its greatest, he did what he knows how to do better than anyone — to excel at the moment of truth and rise to the first place again.
"I am already at an age where performance is harder for me, especially after participating in the all-around, recovery is difficult, so I had a less good exercise in the final," Dolgopyat said after the win. "I am 29 years old and have to deal with young rivals who do things I can no longer do." But even at 29, while dealing with a younger generation and increasing loads, Dolgopyat still proved he is capable of being the last man standing on the podium.
Entered the history books
To understand the magnitude of Dolgopyat's achievement, one must go back five years, to Tokyo. At the 2020 Olympics, held in the summer of 2021 following the postponement of the games, he provided one of the greatest moments in the history of Israeli sports. In the floor final, he received 14.933 points and was crowned Olympic champion. The battle for gold was especially dramatic, as Dolgopyat and the Spaniard Rayderley Zapata received the same score, but the Israeli won the gold thanks to a higher difficulty level.
The medal in Tokyo was far beyond just another personal achievement. It was only the second Olympic gold medal in Israel's history, and the country's first in artistic gymnastics. Dolgopyat, who immigrated to Israel from Ukraine as a child, entered the exclusive club of Israeli Olympic champions that evening. Three years later, in Paris 2024, he returned to the biggest stage. This time the path was more complex, and the final required him to deal with a difficult mental challenge, but Dolgopyat again performed an exercise at the highest level and won the silver medal with 14.966 points. Only the Filipino Carlos Yulo finished ahead of him. Thus, Dolgopyat became the first Israeli to win two personal Olympic medals — gold and silver — in gymnastics, and generally one of the few Israelis who managed to return from the Olympics with a medal in two consecutive games.
World champion on October 7
One of the most special chapters in Dolgopyat's career came precisely on the hardest day Israel has known since its establishment. On October 7, 2023, hours after the Hamas attack, Dolgopyat went up for the floor final at the World Championships in Antwerp. In a place where for other athletes it was just another day of competition, for the Israeli it was a completely different reality. Dolgopyat managed to excel and won the gold medal, his first world title in the floor exercise. At the medal ceremony, the Israeli flag was raised with black ribbons in memory of the massacre victims. It was a moment that turned the sporting achievement into something much greater: an Israeli champion on the world podium, on the day his country is under attack.
The gold at the World Championships effectively completed Dolgopyat's collection of major titles in the exercise where he became a world expert. Beyond the Olympic medals and the world title, he has now won three European Championships — 2020, 2022, and 2026 — and alongside them four European silver medals, in 2018, 2019, 2023, and 2024. In the World Championships as well, Dolgopyat's record is especially impressive: a gold medal in 2023 and two silver medals, in 2017 and 2019.
The achievement in Zagreb is also a reminder that Dolgopyat's story is far from over. In recent years, he has had to deal not only with rivals but also with injuries and loads. He is no longer the young gymnast he was at the beginning of his career, and yet he continues to find the way to remain at the top. "I know I am still at the top and I proved it again, otherwise I wouldn't be competing," he said last night. "For me, to hear the 'Hatikvah' every time anew is the greatest thing there is." This sentence perhaps summarizes his career more than anything: again and again, when expectations are huge and the pressure is great, Dolgopyat manages to reach the moment of truth and prove he is still there.
The look towards Los Angeles
But from his perspective, the celebrations in Zagreb will not last long. Dolgopyat is already looking forward, to the World Championships in Rotterdam in about two months. "The next important goal of the season is the World Championships in Rotterdam in two months. There is no time to recover, we are already starting preparations," he said. Further down the road is also the next big goal — Los Angeles 2028. Dolgopyat has already set himself a clear target to reach the Olympic Games for the third time in his career and try to secure his place there. "It was important for us to do a team qualification for the World Championships and that made it hard for me, but I want to secure my entry to the Olympic Games in China next year and then we will start thinking about them," he said.
And in the meantime, he can stop for a moment and look back. Olympic champion, Olympic vice-champion, world champion, and three-time European champion — and all this in a sport where careers are short, the body wears out quickly, and the gap between success and failure is sometimes measured by a fraction of a point.
