Michel Arkhangelskiy has announced that he will heretofore represent Bahrain in international competition. He wrote on Instagram:
“Extremely proud to represent the Kingdom Of Bahrain, in and out of the pool 🇧🇭🏊♂️”
It has been a long road for the Florida State sophomore, who was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, but has lived as a political refugee in France since 2009. He grew up from the age of 4 onward in Nice and began swimming at 5. He also played soccer and was an avid ski racer, but by high school, he had chosen swimming full-time.
When he joined Fabrice Pellerin’s elite group at Olympic Natation Nice, he was quickly becoming one of the best junior swimmers in France. He won his first junior national titles (50/100/200 back) in 2017, at the age of 12. In 2023 alone, he won 11 junior titles: 5 in short-course meters and 6 in long-course meters. He eclipsed numerous national age group records, but because of his non-citizen status in France, he was not eligible to hold those records. Nor was he eligible to represent France in international competition, such as European Juniors, World Juniors, or Youth Olympic Games.
Arkhangelskiy graduated from high school in June 2023 and decided to take a gap year to focus on trying to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. He and his lawyers filed the paperwork with the French government to request naturalization in May 2023. He put all his energy into preparing for the 2024 French Olympic Trials, where he hoped that his naturalization decision and his swimming times would come together in time to represent France in Paris.
He made it through the next step in the process – the naturalization interview – feeling that it had gone very well. 11 months later, he learned that his request had been refused because he was not employed. Although the French Federation wrote a letter on his behalf, it didn’t move the needle.
Arkhangelskiy then tried to join the Refugee Olympic Team but was told by the French Olympic Committee that he was too integrated in France and that he should keep trying to obtain citizenship. But despite his lawyers’ appeals, France refused Arkhangelskiy’s citizenship.
And so, while he had hit the Olympic qualifying time in the 100 back (53.70), he was shut out of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In August 2024, Arkhangelskiy moved to Tallahassee to swim and study at Florida State. He was a 5-time All-American as a freshman and currently owns the FSU program records in the 50 free, 100 free, 100 fly, and 200 back.
Around the same time, he switched clubs in France, moving to the Cercle des Nageurs de Marseille, where he trains under Romain Barnier. It was through this association that Arkhangelskiy was approached by Bahrain and offered the opportunity to hold a passport and represent the kingdom in international competition.
According to his father, who is now managing the logistics of his son’s swimming career, Arkhangelskiy has been a full member of the Bahrain National Team since late 2025. After NCAAs, he will have a heavy competition schedule, swimming under the Bahrain flag. “His next competitions are in May—the GCC Games (Gulf Cooperation Games) in Qatar. Then the Mare Nostrum in Monaco, then the French Championships in June. But the main event of this year is the Asian Games in Tokyo. It’s slightly smaller than the Olympics, of course, but for Asian countries, it’s the main event. Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and all of Asia compete there. And in December, the World Championships in China.”
Rejected by the country he grew up in. Sad but typical for Europe.
Wow, very surprised that France turned him down. Because he wasn’t employed? He’s a competitive swimmer. That is unfortunate for him.
I can understand why he’d do this, if it is his only chance to compete internationally.
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Im ngl this is a unique case but the rich gulf countries are the most morally bankrupt places on this planet
I’m trying to think of how you would parse the criteria to rank the moral destitution of, say, Russia versus a gulf state.
There are certainly lots of problems in the gulf, especially these days, but…Russia isn’t doing great on morals either. Every Human Rights ranking I could find had Russia below Bahrain.
Reminds me of the DACA situation in the US, with the difference being that his parents were (presumably) in France legally since they were granted political asylum. And yet he still couldn’t get naturalized even though he grew up in France from the time he was a little boy. He probably doesn’t even remember living in Russia.
Fair enough if he didn’t have any other options, but he’s holding that flag like he’s being held hostage
This is a special case, since he was not able to obtain citizenship in France, doing something like this is his only way to swim at an international stage.
Is this a situation where they are paying him a ton of money to represent them, similar to what almost happened with Rami Rahmouni?
Well, maybe, but from the article is seems like he didn’t have any option to represent France. So, at least he’s a citizen of some country.
Yes he really was screwed over by France.