Denis Dmitriev: “The form Yakovlev was in deserves respect. But maybe he was not ready for the Olympic level.

Olympic medalist in track cycling Denis Dmitriev believes he is a world championship medalist Mikhail Yakovlev got into shape for the Paris Olympics, but various factors prevented him from winning a medal.

Earlier, Yakovlev changed his sports citizenship from Russian to Israeli. At the Paris Games, the cyclist lost 0.001 seconds in the sprint and remained out of the fight for medals. Russian athletes did not take part in track competitions.

– Misha is a great guy. The form he has acquired deserves great attention and discussion. I know the conditions in which he prepared, and at the same time he put himself in such conditions.

“We talked to him and I said that Dmitriev won his medal at the third Olympics. Do you think the “first Games” factor affected him?

— Here, in general, the lack of constant experience in international competition played a role. At first, he changed his sports citizenship, there was a period of adaptation. There was a slight decline in results, which did not allow him to be competitive in top-level competitions; he did not have enough races with rivals of the highest class. Plus a psychological moment: those very first Games. Perhaps he was not quite ready for this level, both emotionally and competitively. Before that, he had never met a serious opponent in the sprint already in the quarterfinals. At the Olympics, everything starts strong from the very first race, “Dmitriev told .

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