Kristof Milak Reportedly Back In The Pool With Eyes On Paris

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

Discussion surrounding Kristof Milak‘s motivation, mental health, and physical shape have been thrust into the spotlight over the past few months.

In January, Hungarian coaches publically said the reigning Olympic champion hadn’t been preparing adequately and gave him an unofficial deadline for the end of the month to fully commit to all-in training in time for the Paris Games.

However, according to a report from Hungarian outlet Mandiner, Milak returned to training in the pool “two weeks ago” in an article published on Jan. 31.

The report says that Milak, attempting to stay under the radar and out of the limelight, started training at the pool of his home club, Budapest Honvéd, between noon and 2 p.m. when no one else is around.

Having already notched the qualifying times for Paris, Milak is said to be fully focused on hitting his best possible form when the Olympic swimming competition gets underway on July 27.

Milak’s head coach, Balazs Virth, is headed to Doha to accompany the Hungarian squad at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, but upon return, he and Milak are set to align and commence a four-month training block.

Related: 

• Preparation Issues Cited in Milak’s Shrinkage of 2023 Worlds Event Lineup
• Milak Pulls Out of 2023 Worlds: ‘I’ve Hit Rock Bottom’
• Milak Ready for 2023 World Cup, Paris 2024, and Beyond: ‘I’m Back’
• Milak Withdraws From World Cup Stop in Budapest
• Hungarian Coaches Say Milak Needs To Rebound By Edn of January

Milak’s strength coach, György Zala, commented on Milak’s work outside of the pool at the beginning of January, saying that they’d been doing “quality work” and the progress was “clearly visible.”

Prior to the news of Milak’s return to the pool broke, Zsolt Gyulay, the president of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, offered his thoughts on Milak and the publicity he’s received of late.

“What is going on with Kristof is certainly not good for Hungarian sport,” said Gyulay. “It’s his job, he’s an elite athlete, he has to decide if he’s preparing or not. Milak is a great champion, and we stand behind him.

“I don’t think it’s a good story to tell the press, I think it’s not particularly fashionable in other countries. I understand that this has news value, but it does not help Hungarian sports that he jumped into the water or did not jump into the water. He is an individual athlete, he has already won the Olympics and the World Championships, he knows exactly what he needs to get there. If he won’t, he won’t.”

It appears as though he will, and hopefully, the 23-year-old will be in the field vying to defend his Olympic title in the men’s 200 fly later this year.

The two-time world champion and Tokyo Olympic gold medalist in the 200 fly, Milak will be favored for gold in Paris even if he’s not at 100 percent, as his world record of 1:50.34 is more than two seconds faster than what Leon Marchand went to win the world title in 2023 (1:52.43). Milak has been faster than that eight times.

In the 100 fly, Milak won silver at the Tokyo Olympics behind Caeleb Dressel, as Dressel set a new world record of 49.45 and Milak moved to #2 all-time with a blistering 49.68 swim. Milak then won the 2022 world title with Dressel absent in a time of 50.14, and then with both of them missing at the 2023 World Championships, Frenchman Maxime Grousset won gold in the exact same time, 50.14.

SwimSwam: Kristof Milak Reportedly Back In The Pool With Eyes On Paris