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Bahraini swimmer Mikhail Arkhangelski dedicated his country's first gold medal at the 20th edition of the Asian Games held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, by winning the 50 meter butterfly race with a new Asian time yesterday.
Arkhangelski (21 years old ) of Russian origin, born in St. Petersburg, moved to live as a political refugee in France in 2009, completed the race distance in 22.91 seconds, ahead by 0.15 seconds from Japan's Mitsunaga Shun and 0.34 seconds from China's Wang Changhao.
Arkhangelski had finished fourth in the final of the 100 meter butterfly race, recording 51.74 seconds in the current edition of the Games.
Arkhangelski told the Qatari channel " beIN Sports" after the race ended " I am very happy with this result. This is just the beginning, and I hope to achieve more for Bahrain in the future".
The Bahraini swimmer had previously tried to represent France internationally before the 2024 Olympic Games hosted by Paris, after a request for his naturalization was submitted, but it was rejected because he was not employed.
Although the French Swimming Federation wrote a letter of support for his request, no change was made to the decision.
Arkhangelski began representing Bahrain since late 2025.
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