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Mikhail Iakovlev

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Mikhail Yakovlev
מיכאל יעקובלב
Iakovlev at the 2024 UEC European Track Championships
Personal information
Born (2000-09-01) 1 September 2000 (age 24)
Moscow, Russia
Height199 cm (6 ft 6 in)[1]
Weight106 kg (234 lb)[1]
Team information
DisciplineTrack
RoleRider
Rider typeSprinter
Major wins
  • Unofficial World record in the 200m flying trial (9.099 seconds; 2022 Moscow Grand Prix) Please note: the world record has not been homologated and officially approved by UCI
Medal record
Men's track cycling
Representing Russian Cycling Federation
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Roubaix Keirin
Representing  Russia
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Grenchen Sprint
Representing  Israel
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Apeldoorn Sprint

Mikhail Iakovlev, also known as Mikhail Yakovlev (Hebrew: מיכאל יעקובלב; Russian: Михаил Сергеевич Яковлев; born 1 September 2000) is a Russian-born Israeli unofficial world-record-holding racing cyclist.[2] He won the bronze medal in the keirin event at the 2021 UCI Track Cycling World Championships representing Russia, and bronze medals in Sprint in the 2021 European Championship representing Russia, and in the 2024 European Championship representing Israel.[3][4][5] In 2022 Yakovlev set a new unofficial world record in the 200m flying trial in 9.099 seconds. Iakovlev will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in cycling in the Men's sprint on August 7-9, and the Men's keirin on August 10-11, 2024.

Early and personal life

Iakovlev was born in Moscow, Russia, and is Jewish.[6][7][8] He is Israeli, and lives in Tel Aviv, Israel.[3][6]

Cycling career

In November 2023, UCI Track Champions League data showed Iakovlev had recorded a peak power of 2,840W, making him the most powerful sprinter on the sprint leaderboard.[9] He is the tallest and heaviest rider in the field, at 199 cm (6 ft 6 in) and 106 kg (234 lb).[9]

2020–22; Unofficial World record, and world and European championship bronze medals

Iakovlev in 2021

In 2020 Iakovlev came in second in the European U23 Championship in Sprint, in Fiorenzuola d'Arda (Emilia-Romagna), Italy.[7]

In 2021 he won gold medals in the European U23 Championship in both Keirin and Sprint, in Apeldoorn (Gelderland), the Netherlands, and in the Russian National Championship in Keirin, Sprint, and Team Sprint in Saint Petersburg.[7] Iakovlev also won bronze medals in the 2021 European Championship in Sprint in Grenchen (Solothurn), Switzerland, and in the 2021 World Championship in Keirin in Roubaix (Nord-Pas-de-Calais), France, behind Dutch riders Harrie Lavreysen and Jeffrey Hoogland.[3][10][5][7][11]

In May 2022 Iakovlev set a new unofficial world record in the 200m flying track time trial in 9.099 seconds, at the Moscow Grand Prix.[12]

2022–present; European championship bronze medal

In August 2022, at 21 years of age, Iakovlevv moved to Israel and became an Israeli citizen.[12][6] His sister, parents, and grandmother also moved to Israel, two months later, and live in Karmiel near Israel's northern border.[8][6][13] Even before he emigrated to Israel, he had shared photos displaying the Israeli and Ukrainian flags on his social media.[12] He said: "I am Jewish, and want to represent the Jewish people. I am not interested in whether Russia wants me back."[8]

In November 2023, Iakovlev received clearance from the International Olympic Committee to represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics, after the Russian Olympic Committee, which had blocked his release, was suspended.[14][8] The coach of the Russian national track cycling team, Sergey Kovpanets, said that "It is a shame that we lose such a talented rider like Mikhail."[3]

In 2023 Iakovlev won a bronze medal for Israel at the 2023 International Cycling Union (UCI) Track Nations Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia in February.[15][16][17] It was the first time an Israeli athlete took the podium in a competition in Indonesia, with the Israeli national uniform and the Israeli flag flying next to his name, as in the past the Muslim country had forbidden it.[15] He then won gold medals in the Israeli National Championship in March, in both Keirin and Sprint.[7][18] He also won a silver medal in the third round of the Nations Cup, in Cairo, Egypt, in Sprint, behind Harry Leverisen in the Sprint competition.[18] He said: "For me, when I stood on the podium with the flag and the Star of David on my clothes, it felt the most natural in the world. It was as if I was born into it."[19]

In 2024 Iakovlev won the bronze medal in the 2024 European Championship in Sprint, in Apeldoorn (Gelderland), the Netherlands, behind Harrie Lavreysen and Polish cyclist Mateusz Rudyk, while defeating Jeffrey Hoogland in the bronze medal race.[7][20][21] It was Israel's first-ever medal in track cycling at the European Championships.[22] In March 2024 he won the Israeli National Championship in both Keirin and Sprint, for the second straight year.[6]

2024 Summer Olympics

Iakovlev will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in cycling in the Men's sprint on August 7-9, and the Men's keirin on August 10-11, 2024.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Mikhail Yakovlev". UCI Track Champions League.
  2. ^ "Mikhail Yakovlev". UCI Track Champions League. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Michael Houston (15 August 2022). "World cycling medallist Iakovlev switches allegiance from Russia to Israel". Inside the Games.
  4. ^ "Official Website". Tissot Timing.
  5. ^ a b "ЯКОВЛЕВ Михаил Сергеевич; YAKOVLEV Mikhail". rus.bike. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d e איפרגן, סתיו (12 March 2024). "מיוחד | הסיפור המדהים של מיכאל יעקובלב: "עבור הרוסים אני בוגד. גאה לייצג את ישראל"". Ynet.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Mikhail Iakovlev". Cycling Archives.
  8. ^ a b c d בן גולדפריינד (30 November 2023). "מיכאל יעקובלב: ראיון ראשון עם רוכב האופניים שקיבל אישור..." N12.
  9. ^ a b James Howell-Jones (10 November 2023). "Sprinters record huge power numbers at UCI Track Champions League; Precise data from the UCI Track Champions League shows exactly what modern track cyclists are capable of". Global Cycling Network.
  10. ^ "Official Website". Tissot Timing.
  11. ^ Laura Weislo (6 November 2021). "Lavreysen takes men's sprint jersey at UCI Track Champions League". Cycling News.
  12. ^ a b c "Русский суперталант поддержал Украину и получил паспорт Израиля. За Россию он больше выступать не будет - Sport24". sport24.ru. 9 August 2022.
  13. ^ דותן מלאך (29 February 2024). ""לקחתי איתי את האופניים, קצת ציוד, ובלי שאף אחד ידע עליתי למטוס לישראל"". Makor Rishon.
  14. ^ אורן אהרוני. "מרוסיה באהבה: רוכב האופניים מיכאל יעקובלב יכול לייצג את ישראל באולימפיאדת פריז". Israel HaYaom. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  15. ^ a b "היסטוריה באינדונזיה: מדליית ארד לרוכב אופני המסלול מיכאל יעקבלב | ישראל היום". Israel HaYom. 18 April 2024.
  16. ^ "Indonesia Track Nations Cup: punchy Pocket Rocketman bags silver in keirin". The Vibes. 25 February 2023.
  17. ^ "Pocket Rocketman still packs a punch as he delivers keirin silver in Jakarta". The Sun. 26 February 2023.
  18. ^ a b "ממשיך לשבור שיאים: מדליית כסף לרוכב אופני המסלול מיכאל יעקבלב במצרים". Israel HaYom. 19 April 2024.
  19. ^ "מיכאל יעקבלב: "לעמוד עם מגן הדוד על הבגדים מרגיש הכי טבעי בעולם" | ישראל היום". Israel HaYom. 19 April 2024.
  20. ^ "UEC European Track Championships Results - Cycling". BBC Sport. 14 January 2024.
  21. ^ "Dutch sprint king Lavreysen reigns supreme at Euros". Reuters. 13 January 2024.
  22. ^ ""ישראל היא הבית שלי, גאה מאוד בדגל": מיכאל יעקובלב בראיון ל"ישראל היום"". Israel HaYom. 19 April 2024.
  23. ^ איפרגן, סתיו (15 April 2024). "רשמית: מיכאל יעקובלב קיבל את הכרטיס לאולימפיאדה". Ynet.
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