By Melody Wu
OCA Young Reporter from Chinese Taipei
Tokyo, Japan, September 25, 2026: A time of 22.91 seconds gave Bahrain’s Mikhail Arkhangelskiy the gold medal in the men’s 50 metres butterfly final, equalling his own Asian record and giving Bahrain its first-ever Asian Games swimming medal.
Yet, when he spoke after the race, the word that best described the moment was not “record” or “gold”. It was “relief”.
“You saw in my celebration I was happy, but I was also, like, I don’t know the word in English,” Arkhangelskiy said. After searching for the word, he found it: “Relief. Relief of all this pain.”
The emotion came from a journey that, according to Arkhangelskiy, had been filled with uncertainty. Born in Russia, he moved to France with his family at the age of four after they fled as political refugees, and lived there for about 16 years.
He had hoped to obtain French nationality, but after waiting for a long time, he became disappointed. He later moved to the United States and is now a student and college swimmer at the University of California, Berkeley. He eventually had to decide which country he wanted to represent, and chose Bahrain.
Arkhangelskiy said Bahrain offered him the conditions he needed to focus on swimming, including support for training camps and facilities.
“I have all the best conditions to swim for them,” he said. “Everything is covered, so I’m in the best condition to perform.”
His decision to represent an Asian country also has a personal connection. Arkhangelskiy said his father was born in Kazakhstan and his mother grew up in the Asian part of Russia.
“An Asian country was pretty logical for me,” he said. “It’s natural for me to swim in Asia.”
After years of uncertainty over his international swimming career, Arkhangelskiy finally had his moment.
“I feel more confident, happier and finally I’m someone in swimming,” he said. “I’m really proud and happy that Bahrain gave me this chance.”
The gold medal put Arkhangelskiy in the Asian Games record books, but his reaction after the race told another part of the story. After years of waiting and uncertainty, the feeling he carried away from the pool could be summed up in the one word he had searched for: relief.