Butterfly king Kristof Milak to miss swimming world championships
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Kristof Milak is the world record holder and Olympic champion in the 200m butterfly and won the 2019 world title in the event.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
BUDAPEST – Kristof Milak, who won two gold medals at the 2022 swimming World Championships, said on Wednesday that he will be skipping the 2023 event in Japan, claiming: “I am currently neither physically nor mentally in a position to be among the best in the world.”
The 23-year-old Hungarian won two butterfly world golds in 2022 before his home fans. He is also the world record holder and Olympic champion in 200m butterfly and he clinched the 2019 world title in the event.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I have made a decision,” he said in a statement posted by his club, Honved, on Facebook.
“I will not compete in the World Championships in Fukuoka in July – as much as I would like to continue my winning streak.”
Milak also said that he was trying to understand a dip in his form.
“I am looking for the satisfactory answer myself as to why it happened this way,” he said.
“I could not even approach 100 per cent of my performance, which is essential for peak performance, and I don’t like to settle for less.”
The Budapest showpiece in 2022 was the first of three World Championships in 19 months with Fukuoka in July followed by Doha in February 2024. The Paris Olympics follow in the summer.
Two of the Hungarian’s main rivals, American Caeleb Dressel and Australian Kyle Chalmers, have talked in the last year about their battles with mental health issues, but Milak stressed that was not a problem for him.
“This is a very deep valley but I want to emphasise that all of this is not accompanied by any despair,” he added in the statement.
“I accepted it, and I sincerely hope that everyone else can also accept that, in an athlete’s career, there can be such a period when you have to step back, recharge and then be ready for the biggest challenges again.”
Milak concluded his statement on a positive note: “Fear not: I will be back soon.”
Chalmers, who took a mental health break in 2022, is now working two days a week on a building site in addition to his training, and the 24-year-old said that was helping his swimming.
“I’m having a lot of fun in the pool but having a lot more fun out of the pool, which is, I think, massively contributing to my success in the pool this year,” he said.
“It’s made me really enjoy the sport again and probably refound my passion and reason why I’m doing it.” AFP, REUTERS
