Olympic track cycling medalist Dmitriev retires

Olympic medalist in track cycling Denis Dmitriev ended his athletic career.

Dmitriev is 37 years old, he is world and European champion, medalist at the 2016 Games in individual sprint. In 2023, the Russian accepted an offer of cooperation with the Chinese national team and began working as part of the team’s coaching staff.

– I consoled myself with the hope that we would return soon [на международную арену]. I really missed the atmosphere of international departures. Yet when you play for so many years at the world level, you get addicted to it all. Then I said to myself that maybe, even if I don’t go to the Olympics, I can at least participate in the World Championships and finish my career on the podium to put a good end to it.

But time passed and I began to understand that I could no longer make this dream come true. So I decided it was time to finish and reach new heights in another capacity, as a coach.

– Sad?

– Sometimes. But I also understand that such is life, that it is time to make way for the next generation. Now, people born in the 2000s run track. With my 1986 I won’t look very good (laughs), Dmitriev said in an interview with .