Two-time Olympic champion Kristof Milak will not compete at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore.
Milak’s coach, Almos Szabo, revealed the superstar’s absence at the upcoming championships on Hungarian National Sports Radio, multiple local outlets have reported.
Szabo, who only began coaching Milak in late 2024, added that he didn’t believe Milak’s decision to opt out of Worlds was a bad one, given his lack of training and “motivation” this year.
“We discussed this. Kristof has indicated this intention, and I support him in this,” Szabo said, according to M4 Sport.
“Everyone should put their hand on their heart, there have been times when things didn’t go as planned, and this isn’t even the case here, because we didn’t start the year with 100% confidence that we would be competing in the World Championship.
“I don’t find anything wrong with Kristof not being there at the World Championships, many top athletes, especially those who are as successful as him, have already chosen this path.”
This marks the third consecutive World Championships (LC) that Milak won’t contest, as he withdrew from the 2023 Worlds in Fukuoka citing mental and physical fatigue.
Then, like many of the world’s top swimmers, he did not compete at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, which, in a unique circumstance, were held just five months before the Olympics.
“No one disputes his abilities, Kristof has a unique talent, the mental part is the hardest for him,” Szabo continued. “He needs rest, and only he will know when that certain flame will flare up. When it does, he will start at the world competitions and will probably be outstanding there.”
Szabo believes taking time off now gives Milak a chance to rekindle his passion for the sport leading up to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“If he can’t find motivation in a world championship, he won’t stand up to the slap machine to come in third, for example, because if he starts, he’s fighting for the highest goals,” Szabo said. “According to our shared ideas, he still has a chance to break the world record in the two butterfly events, he has the knowledge to do so. We all feel the year after the Olympics on our skin, and it’s terribly difficult to find motivation at this time.”
Despite questions about his commitment to training surrounding him in the lead-up to the Olympics in Paris, Milak won gold in the men’s 100 butterfly in a time of 49.90, the second-fastest performance of his career, and he also claimed silver in the 200 fly. That performance flipped his results from the Tokyo Games in 2021, when he topped the 200 fly podium and earned silver in the 100 fly in a close battle with Caeleb Dressel.
At the 2025 Hungarian Nationals in early April, Milak showed solid form, winning the 100 free (48.76) and 200 fly (1:56.13) and finishing as the runner-up in the 50 fly (23.43) and 100 fly (50.67) to qualify for the World Championships. That swim in the 100 fly still ranks him 6th in the world this season.
He was committed to compete on the Mare Nostrum Tour last month before withdrawing.
This past February, Milak spoke openly on the MOL Pályán áját podcast, mentioning that he had considered quitting the sport.
In his last World Championship appearance in 2022, Milak won gold and broke the world record in the 200 fly racing on home soil in Budapest, and he completed the fly double by topping the 100 fly field in dominant fashion.
In Milak’s absence, the men’s 100 fly is looking relatively wide open at next month’s World Championships, with nine men (not including Milak) having broken 51 seconds this season, led by Switzerland’s Noe Ponti (50.27).
In the 200 fly, Leon Marchand, who topped Milak for Olympic gold last summer, remains the favorite despite having yet to race the event in long course this season, while American Luca Urlando leads the world rankings by over a second in 1:52.37.
Without Milak, Marchand figures to be the lone Olympic or world champion to race the 200 fly in Singapore (and his entry isn’t even confirmed), with 2024 world champion Tomoru Honda missing the Japanese team and two-time world champion and 2012 Olympic champion Chad Le Clos pulling out of the meet earlier this year.
A few years ago Milák mentioned his asthma and limited breathing capacity. I can’t remember the exact percentage he gave, but it was shockingly less than that of a healthy person, let alone top athlete. He was planning on having lung surgery, which possibly was not done bc of covid.
I am reading now about his lack of perfect health being mentioned (https://hunswim.com/milak-kristof-nem-indul-a-szingapuri-vb-n/) and can’t help but wonder how serious it might be. It’s amazing that he was able to pull of WRs and ORs, etc with his condition.
Also true, some Hungarian journalists wrote demeaning articles about him, and Milák not tolerating well the lime light does not bring clarity to… Read more »
we were robbed of a kos / insert random eastern european they get to change sporting nationality / milak / nemeth medley relay
Would have been awesome.
No worries, good for him. He can go back to his fun activities that don’t match well with doping tests anyway.
So many negative comments in here… I hope he finds happiness and motivation both out of and in the pool.
he got what he asked for
Tell me…what did he ask for? I don’t think he asked for anyone to question his decision-making or ask how he should run his life.
Can you enlighten us on what he’s getting that he asked for?
yes. He humiliated and screwed all his previous coaches, financially, and in every sense. He ignored everyone around him, to provide the basic information before world events such as will he show up or not. Or at least, he had assured them that he would show up and then he never did. He kept collecting his paychecks when they were contingent on him showing up at practices. He would not answer the phone to anyone for weeks and months including his mom. People thought Darnyi was difficult to interview and to deal with but nothing compared to this.
I think the kid has excuses for sure. He has such a big ego, he can only swim in an open… Read more »
Luca’s time to shine. USA!
if Leon does not return to full form, Luca can surprise everyone.
Let’s go Luca!
If he doesn’t have the motivation after getting out touched by Marchand, it does seem like he won’t compete again.
And that’s okay. Milak, like all elite athletes to an extent, has probably based a significant amount of his pride, self worth, and happiness in the sport. That’s not sustainable. And when you do want to walk away, you feel like you can’t, or that you’re not supposed to. I hope Milak is able to find what he’s looking for.