Kristóf Milák On Preparation, Paris 2024 And His Desire To Compete At The 2028 Olympics
“I have the intention to be (in LA) and win. My chances are good. Together with Hubert Kós we definitely want to be Olympic champions again. For now I can promise to swim this year’s World Championships in Singapore.”
Double Olympic champion Kristóf Milák has given a wide-ranging interview in which he speaks about his withdrawal from the 2023 worlds, Paris 2024 and his short and long-term plans including the 2028 Olympics.
Milák hadn’t spoken to the press since the summer of 2023 when he withdrew from the World Championships in Fukuoka citing mental and physical exhaustion, saying that he’d “hit rock-bottom.”
Questions were asked of his preparations for the 2024 Olympics in Paris where again he bypassed the media after winning 100 fly gold and silver in the 200m.
l-r: Kristof Milak, Leon Marchand & Ilya Kharun: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
Now the three-time world champion has spoken to the “Palyan Kivul” podcast in conjunction with his sponsor MOL, an oil and gas company.
During the interview, he acknowledged the effect of his silence, saying: “I can’t leave this place without apologising for hurting people I didn’t want to hurt. At the end of the day, I’ve recognised these things.
“I’m trying to change my communication, because if I could apply some tools a bit better, everything would have turned out a lot better. I was wrong, and I’m sorry.”
The demands and rigours of training and competition had taken their toll on Milák until he reached breaking point ahead of Fukuoka in 2023, saying: “Mentally I wasn’t prepared, physically I was, but I had mental barriers.”
The Hungarian announced in September 2023 that he was returning to training while committing to Paris and beyond. He focused on land work, only returning to the water in early 2024 and even then he missed training sessions which subsequently affected his endurance.
He told the podcast that he’d trained alone for a few months and didn’t return to the water until around December 2023. It was, he said, “very good for my soul, it was more difficult professionally” while extolling his love of hours-long exercise and training and the knowledge of progress made.
He returned to competition with five titles at the Hungarian Championships in April last year, including the 100/200 fly double in 50.99 and 1:54.90 respectively, and followed that with fine performances on the Mare Nostrum tour.
Paris, Leon Marchand & Returning For Gold
Come Paris and the cauldron of La Defense Arena for the 200 fly. The world record-holder was 0.60 ahead at halfway before extending his lead t0 0.72 at the final turn and appeared to be on the brink of joining Michael Phelps in a two-man club of successful defences.
Leon Marchand, however, had other ideas and superb underwaters off the final turn saw him eat into the lead. With around 25m to go, Marchand moved onto his adversary’s shoulder before going ahead to accelerate into the wall 0.04 inside Milak’s Olympic record in 1:51.21 as the Hungarian touched in 1:51.75.
Kristóf Milák & Josh Liendo: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
It condemned Milák to his first defeat over four lengths in a major international long-course meet.
“I thought that after the 200m I would have less chance in the 100,” he said. “But it turned out differently as I had better tactics in the 100m fly than the others. It was difficult to move on after the 200m, but during the days between the finals the delicious breakfasts in the French bakeries helped a lot. Those were needed for my soul, those delicious sweets, croissants with a coffee… Those were essential for me to bounce back.
“I tried to perform the same level as before, to get the most out of the races. At the European Championships in Belgrade and the finals in Paris I gave my best, showed everything I had.
“There were a few hours of rage after the final of the 200m. Also, I thought had my tactics been different, I could have won. Perhaps I should have been laid back a bit and stayed behind Marchand and then I’d have had more for the final metres…But that was it. I was worn out by the end and that’s it. In the 100m, I somehow managed to pass the others over the last 15 metres. There the different tactics worked. Luckily.”
He returned for the 100 to take the title in 49.90, the second-fastest time of his career behind his 49.68 European record en-route to silver in Tokyo, as Josh Liendo also broke 50 in 49.99.
Media Silence & Looking To LA
Milák bypassed the media entirely and pointed to stories that were published in the lead-up to the Games.
“I’d say 89 percent of these articles had nothing to do with reality,” he said. “If everything had gone well and this situation hadn’t happened, the usual dose of information appearing from me would have been the same.
Kristóf Milák: Photo courtesy: European Aquatics
“I understand that I have to give something of myself to some extent, but apart from my results and public appearances, I don’t like and want to share anything else from my life. I love my private life and I stick to keep it for myself and I will continue to do that.”
The 24-year-old announced in November that he was to be coached by Álmos Szabó after parting ways with his former trainer Balázs Virth.
He singled out Szabó and Secretary of State for Sports Ádám Schmidt for their support, speaking of a strong bond with the former which has already borne fruit.
As to his plans, Milák intends to compete at the 2025 worlds in Singapore and of Los Angeles 2028, he said: “I have the intention to be (in LA) and win. My chances are good. Together with Hubert Kós we definitely want to be Olympic champions again. For now I can promise to swim this year’s World Championships in Singapore. I would like to be there. I won’t promise you, but I’ll do everything I can to get there.”