Artem Dolgopyat

Artem Dolgopyat was born on June 16, 1997, in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. His father, Oleg, was a former gymnast with Jewish heritage, while his mother, Angela Bilan, was not Jewish. At the age of 12, in 2009, Dolgopyat and his family immigrated to Israel, settling first in Lod and then in Rishon LeZion. Despite language difficulties and training demands that led him to drop out of high school, he continued his education at Tel Aviv University. He trained at Maccabi Tel Aviv under coach Sergey Vaisburg and later at the Wingate Institute. Dolgopyat also served in the Israel Defense Forces and achieved the rank of sergeant. He lives in Netanya, Israel, with his fiancée, Maria Sakovich.

Dolgopyat’s gymnastics career began early, becoming a two-time national champion in Ukraine for his age group by 12. After moving to Israel, he quickly made his mark, winning his first gold medal in the floor exercise at the Grand Prix Osijek in Croatia in 2015. He also secured his first Israeli Championship title in floor exercise that year, surpassing his mentor Alexander Shatilov. In 2017, he earned two gold medals in floor exercise and pommel horse, and a bronze in vault, at the Maccabiah Games in Israel. That same year, he won a silver medal in the floor exercise at the 2017 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Montreal, Canada, despite a foot injury, achieving the best Israeli result ever in the championships at that time. He was recognized as the 2017 Israeli Sportsman of the Year.

His career continued with consistent high-level performances, including a silver medal at the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow. In 2019, he secured another silver medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart and at the European Championships in Szczecin. In 2020, Dolgopyat became a European champion, winning gold in the floor exercise and bronze in the vault at the European Championships in Mersin. The pinnacle of his career came at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where he won Israel’s first Olympic gold medal in gymnastics in the floor exercise. He followed this with a gold medal at the 2022 European Championships in Munich and his first World Championship title in floor exercise at the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp. He added to his Olympic medal count with a silver in the men’s floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Olympics.