Mikhail Sergeyevich Yakovlev (; ; born 1 September 2000), also known as Mikhail Iakovlev, is an Olympic Israeli unofficial world-record-holding

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...

. Born in Russia, he and his family moved to Israel, and he represents Israel internationally. He won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the

keirin – "racing track" – is a form of Motor-paced racing, motor-paced cycle racing in which track cycling, track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan ...

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). In 2022 Yakovlev set a new unofficial world record in the 200m flying trial in 9.099 seconds. Iakovlev represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in cycling in the Men's sprint. In it, he came in seventh, losing to Hamish Turnbull of the United Kingdom in the 1/8 finals by 0.001 seconds. He also represented Israel in the Men's keirin, in which he came in 13th as he won his heat in the qualifiers and was eliminated in the quarter-finals. He set an

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games. Summer Olympics * Archery at the Summer Olympics, Archery (List of Olympic records in archery, li ...

in the men’s track cycling sprint at the competition.

Early and personal life

Iakovlev was born in Moscow, Russia, and is Jewish. He is Israeli, and lives in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, Israel.

Cycling career

In November 2023, UCI Track Champions League data showed Iakovlev had recorded a

peak power ''Peak power'' refers to the maximum of the instantaneous power waveform, which, for a sine wave, is always twice the average power. For other waveforms, the relationship between peak power and average power is the peak-to-average power ratio (PAP ...

of 2,840W, making him the most powerful sprinter on the sprint leaderboard. He is the tallest and heaviest rider in the field, at 199 cm (6 ft 6 in) and 106 kg (234 lb).

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

In 2020 Iakovlev came in second in the European U23 Championship in Sprint, in

Fiorenzuola d'Arda Fiorenzuola d'Arda (; , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy in the province of Piacenza, part of the Emilia-Romagna region. Its name derives from ''Florentia'' ("prosperous" in Latin). The "d'Arda" portion refers to the River Arda which flows ...

(

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

), Italy. In 2021 he won

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

s in the European U23 Championship in both

Keirin – "racing track" – is a form of Motor-paced racing, motor-paced cycle racing in which track cycling, track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan ...

and Sprint, in

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. The municipality of Apeldoorn, including the villages of Beekbergen, Loenen (Apeldoorn), Loenen, Ugchelen and Hoenderloo ...

(

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

), the Netherlands, and in the Russian National Championship in Keirin, Sprint, and Team Sprint in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Iakovlev also won

s in the 2021 European Championship in Sprint in

Grenchen Grenchen () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Lebern (district), Lebern in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Solothurn (canton), Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains betwee ...

(

Solothurn Solothurn ( ; ; ; ; ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains. The town is ...

), Switzerland, and in the 2021 World Championship in Keirin in

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

(

Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (; ; West Flemish: ''Nôord-Nauw van Kales'') was a former regions of France, administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new Regions of France, region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the ...

), France, behind Dutch riders

Harrie Lavreysen Harrie Lavreysen (born 14 March 1997) is a Dutch track cyclist who competes in sprint events. He is a five-time Olympic gold medalist, having won the sprint and team sprint event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and adding the sprint, the team spr ...

and

Jeffrey Hoogland Jeffrey Hoogland (born 16 March 1993) is a Dutch track cyclist. He represented his nation in eleven editions of the UCI Track Cycling World Championships (since 2013). At the 2015 UEC European Track Championships, he collected a total of three g ...

. 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.

2022–present; European championship bronze medal

In August 2022, at 21 years of age, Iakovlev moved to Israel and became an Israeli citizen. His sister, parents, and grandmother also moved to Israel two months later, and live in

Karmiel Karmiel () is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Established in 1964 as a development town, Karmiel is located in the Beit HaKerem Valley which divides upper and lower Galilee. The city is located south of the Acre–Safed road, from Sa ...

near Israel's northern border. Even before he emigrated to Israel, he had shared photos displaying the Israeli and Ukrainian flags on his social media. He said: "I am Jewish, and want to represent the

Jewish people Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

. I am not interested in whether Russia wants me back." In November 2023, Iakovlev received clearance from the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

to represent Israel at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, after the

Russian Olympic Committee The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) is the National Olympic Committee representing Russia. Its current president during IOC suspension is Mikhail Degtyarev. The membership of ROC is currently suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC ...

, which had blocked his release, was suspended. 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." In 2023 Iakovlev won a bronze medal for Israel at the 2023 International Cycling Union (UCI) Track Nations Cup in Jakarta,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

in February. 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 The flag of the State of Israel ( ; ) was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. It consists of a white background with a blue Star of David in the centre and two horizontal blue stripes at the ...

flying next to his name, as in the past the Muslim country had forbidden it. He then won gold medals in the Israeli National Championship in March, in both Keirin and Sprint. He also won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the third round of the Nations Cup, in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, Egypt, in Sprint, behind Harrie Lavreysen in the Sprint competition. He said: "For me, when I stood on the podium with the flag and the

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

on my clothes, it felt the most natural in the world. It was as if I was born into it." 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. It was Israel's first-ever medal in track cycling at the European Championships. In March 2024 he won the Israeli National Championship in both Keirin and Sprint, for the second straight year.

2024 Paris Olympics; Olympic sprint record

Iakovlev represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in cycling. In the Men's sprint he came in seventh, losing to team sprint silver medalist Hamish Turnbull of the United Kingdom in the third round 1/8 finals by 0.001 seconds. At 23 years of age, he set an

in the men’s track cycling sprint at the competition, with a time of 9.152 seconds.Amy Spiro (August 7, 2024)
"Israeli cyclist Mikhail Yakovlev briefly sets new Olympic record in men’s sprint,"
''The Times of Israel''. He also competed in the Men's keirin, and won his heat in the qualifiers well ahead of 2023 world champion

Kevin Quintero Kevin Santiago Quintero Chavarro (born 28 October 1998) is a Colombian track cycling, track cyclist, who specializes in sprinting events. He has won numerous medals in continental games and championships, as well as competed at the 2018 UCI Trac ...

of Colombia and four other riders. He came in 13th in the competition, as he next competed in the quarter-finals, where he was eliminated.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iakovlev, Mikhail 2000 births Living people 21st-century Israeli Jews 21st-century Russian Jews Cyclists from Moscow European Championships (multi-sport event) bronze medalists Israeli male cyclists Jewish Israeli sportspeople Jewish Russian sportspeople Keirin cyclists Russian male cyclists Russian track cyclists Sportspeople from Tel Aviv Track cyclists Cyclists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Israel 21st-century Russian sportsmen 21st-century Israeli sportsmen