Olympic silver medalist, world record holder Kliment Kolesnikov told in an interview with Sport why he refused the Olympics in Paris, whether he has an open gestalt with Olympic gold and why foreign athletes should be offended.
«Rylov should not be written off»
— Miron Lifintsev said after his victory over you that it was more important than the youth world record. Is it flattering? Does it make you nervous that young people are catching up and even winning?
— It’s good when it turns out that the guys compete with each other than when just with your time. If his task was to compete with me, to overtake me, then he would have a decent result, which is what happened. I'm only glad when the guys see me as a rival.
The coach and I discussed a lot of things and came to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with second place. The result is good compared to all the results I had. There were worse times, it just happened that now Miron swam 52.3 seconds, and in fact, several years before that I won with a result of 52.8. There’s just a big gap at the moment, it’s okay, we’ll continue to compete.
— Does Evgeny Rylov remain one of your main rivals or is Lifintsev now taking attention?
— Miron is a young guy, he only turns 18 this year, so he still has everything He still has a long way to go. Zhenya is a principled person in his approach to competitions; he can even swim a world record. He just needs all the stars to align. He shouldn't be written off. He will write himself off when necessary. He is a very professional athlete, I think he will still prove himself at the summer competitions.
— Are you somehow trying to experiment with swimming techniques? Now is the best time to try something new.
— No, there is no time for experiments in the conditions of new starts. There are other priorities, more narrowly focused. Now the focus is on results at certain distances, to which I am already accustomed.
«We do not deserve such an attitude, it’s not even funny»
— Your attitude towards neutral status has not changed?
< br>— No. I have no attitude at all towards neutral status, because there are more questions about the attitude of others. Neutral status can be obtained at any moment, everyone can do it, but then an attitude towards us comes into force, which is wrong, undeserved and no longer even funny. I will not receive it and, accordingly, I am not going to go anywhere.
— At the competitions in Banja Luka it will be possible to fulfill the Olympic standard. Will your decision change if you implement it?
— I will speak only for myself. If I succeed in fulfilling it, I will not sit and hope that the conditions for admission to the Olympics will change. I have already made a decision for myself that I do not have the opportunity to go there. Compliance with the standard will not change anything, because the conditions do not change.
— With what emotions will you go to your first international competition after a long break? Is the start special?
— For the guys who haven’t traveled anywhere yet, it will be a new experience. Foreign competitions take place against a different emotional background and are more difficult than domestic competitions. For me personally it will be a breath of fresh air. There is something that makes me miss you. You get used to one thing very quickly and starts can turn into a routine when it’s the same cities. Now we’ll go, have a look, unwind there, maybe there will be a new impetus, new strength for further training.
«Go to the Olympics in Paris — loss of everything as a person»
— Is there an open gestalt with Olympic gold?
—Immediately after the Olympic Games I thought: “How did this happen?” There were a lot of thoughts. Now there are other tasks and goals. Of course, I would like to take Olympic gold, because initially the plan for my entire sports career was to achieve this, but anything happens in life. Now we just went a different way. Let's see what happens next. If we are admitted in 2028, then we will go.
— Many people call you the most talented swimmer in Russia. Are principles and resistance to admission conditions more valuable than an Olympic medal?
— Yes. Here we need to look not from a sporting point of view, we need to discard all sporting principles, because, based on all the conditions that are provided to us, this is not just a sport. You can’t look at it only from this point of view, you need to look at it from the human side. It turns out that you are not considered anything. What's the point of going to a place where you're not welcome, you're not welcome, and they're against you being there? Will anyone agree with this? This is unacceptable to me. This is humiliation, and this humiliation is not worth medals.
— Do you think they will turn away from those who go to the Olympics? Can their decision be respected? For example, Yulia Efimova stated that she wants to participate.
— I don’t mind if someone plans to go there , — everyone has their own priorities and everyone makes their own decisions. If everything suits you and the person is ready to go there under the given conditions, then why not.
A lot of people are divided in their opinions, and all these opinions have their place. But you can’t be very critical of everything. It turns out that if you look at it from a sporting point of view and not go there, it’s a loss of everything for the athlete, but from a human point of view, it’s a loss of everything as an individual. Whoever goes, let him, I don’t mind and I won’t judge.
—Won’t it be a shame if those who swim slower than you win medals? And, most likely, it will be so.
— They should be more offended. Well, what can you do, such is life.
— Will you be rooting for Kirpichnikova at the Olympics? And in general, are you planning to watch the Games?
—I will watch the Olympic Games in any case. There are guys I will root for. These are Italians, Hungarians, Spaniards, British and so on. We know them well and communicate well.
According to Nastya: I’m not friends with her and don’t communicate, so I won’t follow her. I have my own friends and fans. And I don’t condemn the change of her sports citizenship; let her compete if there is such an opportunity. I think there are people who will support her at the Olympics.