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Hungarian Olympic Triumph!
by Bryan Dawson

Did you know...as of 2016, Hungary ranks 8th in the world in medals at the Summer Olympic Games despite its being torn apart after WWI and losing half her population and 2/3 of her territory. This does not include an additional 6 medals won in the Winter Olympics nor the Hungarians that won medals as nationals of other countries after borders were redrawn or after large-scale emigration.

Ferenc Kemeny, founding member of the International Olympic Committee.

The beginnings of the Olympic movement in Hungary go back further than the Games in Athens. Ferenc Kemeny, a great pacifist and member of the International Peace Bureau, was one of Pierre de Coubertin's first kindred spirits, with whom he struck up a friendship in the 1880's.

Kemeny took an active part in the Congress for the re-establishment of the Games held in Paris in 1894 and was one of the founding members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Coubertin supported Kemeny's suggestion to hold the first Olympics in Budapest in 1896 in honor of Hungary's 1000 years of statehood. While the dream of hosting an Olympics is not yet realized, Hungary has won more Olympic medals than any other nation that has never hosted the Games.

Hungary in the Olympics - Select a Year:

       Sections:

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• Hungarian Olympic Triumph
  

COPYRIGHT:
Please ask for permission and CITE this source, attributing Bryan Dawson, before using this information.

• [Start page]
• [Ferenc Kemeny and the Origins of the Olympic Movement]
• [1896, Athens]
• [1900, Paris]
• [1904, St. Louis]

• [1906, Athens]
• [1908, London]
• [1912, Stockholm]
• [1920, Antwerp]
• [1924, Paris]
• [1928, Amsterdam]
• [1932, Los Angeles]

• [1936, Berlin]
• [1948, London]  
• [1952, Helsinki]
• [1956, Melbourne]
• [1960, Rome]
• [1964, Tokyo]
• [1968, Mexico City]

• [1972, Munich]
• [1976, Montreal]
• [1980, Moscow]
• [1984, Los Angeles]
• [1988, Seoul]
• [1992, Barcelona]
• [1996, Atlanta]

• [2000, Sydney]
• [2004, Athens]
• [2008, Beijing]
• [2012, London]
• [2014, Sochi]
• [2016, Rio de Janeiro]
  

1956 Melbourne Highlights

• Revolution in Hungary! Russians Invade...world protests, does nothing
• Hungary finishes fourth in overall Gold, taking 30 Gold, 20 Silver and 15 Bronze!
• "Blood in the Water" - legendary Hungary vs. Russia Waterpolo match! Hungarian Water Polo continues to dominate winning 4th Gold
• Legendary Fencers, Aladar Gerevich and Pal Kovacs win 5th Gold! Teammate Rudolf Karpati wins 3rd!
• Gymnast Keleti Agnes Wins 4 Gold Medals: Three Individual one as member of Team Hungary!
• After Bronze in 1952, Women's Gymnastics Team takes Gold!
• Boxing Legend Papp Laszlo wins Third Consecutive Gold Medal - First Boxer to Win Three!

Hungarian Medals!

Medal	Name	Event
	Papp László	Boxing / ökölvívás nagyváltósúly 71 kg
	Kárpáti Rudolf	Individual Fencing / vívás kard egyéni
	Takács Károly	25m rapid fire pistol / gyorstűzelő pisztoly
	Keleti Ágnes	Gymnastics / felmás korlát
	Keleti Ágnes	Gymnastics Beam / gerenda
	Keleti Ágnes	Gymnastics Floor / műszabadgyakorlat
	Bodó Andrea	Team Rythmic Gymnastics / kéziszer csapat
	Kertész Alíz	Team Rythmic Gymnastics / kéziszer csapat
	Korondi Margit	Team Rythmic Gymnastics / kéziszer csapat
	Köteles Erzsébet	Team Rythmic Gymnastics / kéziszer csapat
	Keleti Ágnes	Team Rythmic Gymnastics / kéziszer csapat
	Tass Olga	Team Rythmic Gymnastics / kéziszer csapat
	Kárpáti Rudolf	Team Fencing / vívás kard csapat
	Kovács Pál Ádám	Team Fencing / vívás kard csapat
	Keresztes Attila	Team Fencing / vívás kard csapat
	Hámori Jenő	Team Fencing / vívás kard csapat
	Magay Dániel	Team Fencing / vívás kard csapat
	Gerevich Aladár	Team Fencing / vívás kard csapat
	Fábián László	Kayak Canoe / kajak-kenu K-2 10,000 m
	Urányi János	Kayak Canoe / kajak-kenu K-2 10,000 m
	Bolvári Antal	Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
	Boros Ottó	Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
	Gyarmati Dezső	Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
	Hevesi István	Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
	Jeney László	Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
	Kanizsa Tivadar	Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
	Kárpáti György dr.	Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
	Markovits Kálmán	Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
	Mayer Mihály	Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
	Szívós István	Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
	Zádor Ervin	Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
	Olga Orban-Szabo	Individual Fencing / vívás kard egyeni
	Kovács József	Track and Field / atlétika 10,000 m
	Rozsnyói Sándor	Track and Field Hurdles / akadályfutás 3,000 m
	Keleti Ágnes	Gymnastics / torna összetett egyeni
	Polyák Imre	Wrestling / birkózás kötöttfogás 62 kg
	Székely Éva	Swimming breastroke / úszás 200m mell
	Hatlaczky Ferenc	Kayak Canoe / kajak-kenu K-1 10,000 m
	Hernek István	Kayak Canoe / kajak-kenu C-1 1,000 m
	Parti János	Kayak Canoe / kajak-kenu C-1 10,000 m
	Balthazár Lajos dr.	Team Fencing / pb. tőr csapat
	Berzsenyi Barnabás	Team Fencing / pb. tőr csapat
	Marosi József	Team Fencing / pb. tőr csapat
	Nagy Ambrus dr.	Team Fencing / pb. tőr csapat
	Rerrich Béla dr.	Team Fencing / pb. tőr csapat
	Sákovics József (Szecsődi József)	Team Fencing / pb. tőr csapat
	Bodó Andrea	Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
	Keleti Ágnes	Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
	Kertész Alíz	Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
	Korondi Margit	Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
	Köteles Erzsébet	Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
	Tass Olga	Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
	Tumpek György	Swimming butterfly / úszás 200 m pillangó
	Tass Olga	Gymnastics vault / lóugrás
	Nagy László	Figure Skating - pairs / műkorcsolya páros
	Nagy Marianna	Figure Skating - pairs / műkorcsolya páros
	Sákovics József	Team Fencing / vívás tőr csapat
	Tilli Endre	Team Fencing / vívás tőr csapat
	Fűlöp Mihály	Team Fencing / vívás tőr csapat
	Gyuricza József	Team Fencing / vívás tőr csapat
	Marosi József	Team Fencing / vívás tőr csapat
	Farkas Imre	Kayak Canoe / kajak-kenu C-2 10,000 m
	Hunics József	Kayak Canoe / kajak-kenu C-2 10,000 m
	Kiss Lajos	Kayak Canoe / kajak-kenu K-1 1,000 m
	Mohácsi Ferenc	Kayak Canoe / kajak-kenu C-2 1,000 m
	Wieland Károly	Kayak Canoe / kajak-kenu C-2 1,000 m
	Francisc Horvat (Horváth Ferenc)	Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman Bantamweight

Search all 1956 medalists (in Hungarian)

Communist "Rákosi" Flag

1956 Revolution, a "Lyukas Zászló"

1956 "Kossuth Arms" Flag of the Republic raised in Melbourne

1956 - Revolution in Hungary!
Flag of the New Republic Flies Over Melbourne!
The 1956 Olympics was bittersweet indeed. The 1956 Hungarian Revolution was the first tear in the Iron Curtain. Hungarians from all walks of life rose up against insurmountable odds to fight the brutal Soviet installed Hungarian communist government. Thousands died fighting, others tortured and executed, while 200,000 were forced to flee.

When officials raised the communist-Hungarian flag, the Olympic Village received numerous calls objecting to it not being the Kossuth Arms flag adopted during the Hungarian uprising. The flag was vandalized one night, with the red star of communism being removed from the center and replaced by the Kossuth Arms with a mark of mourning. When the Village staff requested clarification from the newly formed, free Federal government, they were informed that the Kossuth Arms flag was being flown in Budapest and therefore was the correct flag.

Blood in the Water:
Hungary vs. The Soviet Union...
Amid all the tension caused by the Soviet invasion of Hungary, Hungary and the Soviet Union met in a water polo match, one of the most famous water polo matches in history. The game was played in a packed stadium with many Hungarian-born Australians in the crowd. In addition to the political tension it was also a crucial game in terms of the water polo competition. If Hungary were to win it would almost be assured of the gold medal.

The match was rough from the beginning but became increasingly violent after Hungary took a 4-0 lead in the second half. At one point a Hungarian player, Ervin Zador, was heavily knocked by a Soviet player and emerged from the pool with serious facial bleeding. The crowd became enraged and police were called to prevent a riot. The match was abandoned shortly before full time and Hungary was credited with a victory. This ultimately secured it the gold medal after the completion of other matches.

Many of the Hungarian team were not able to return to their homeland to rejoice in this victory, choosing instead to remain in Australia or seek refuge in other countries rather than return to their war-ravaged country.

In 2007, the film "Freedom's Fury," (A szabadság Vihara) directed by Colin Gray and Megan Raney (The Sibs), was released. The critically acclaimed, hard-hitting feature documentary about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the "Bloodiest Game in Olympic History," tells the story of the fateful moment in 1956 when Hungary explodes in a popular revolt and climaxes with the infamous water polo showdown between Hungary and the Soviets at the Melbourne Olympics. Now known as the “Blood in the Water Match,” the documentary follows the journey of the Hungarian Olympic water polo team and its young star, Ervin Zador, who find themselves the unwitting focal point of the most politicized sports match ever played.

See Trailers of "Freedom's Fury" on YouTube or buy the film on AHF's Amazon store!

Featured Olympian, Deszo Gyarmati:
(b. 10/23/1927 Miskolc, d. )

The Greatest Water Polo Player of All-Time...
Deszo Gyarmati's feat of winning water polo medals at five successive Olympic Games (gold 1952, 1956, 1964; silver 1948; bronze 1960) has never been matched. He also captained winning Hungarian teams at the 1954 and 1962 European Championships. An excellent swimmer with a best time of 58.5 seconds for 100m (quite fast in that era), Gyarmati was called the "world's fastest water polo player." He was ambidextrous and could play either back or forward. Gyarmati was considered a Hungarian national hero. He coached the Hungarian team that won the Olympic title in 1976 and later became a member of Parliament. He is featured in the documentary film, Freedom's Fury, available on on AHF's Amazon store!.

Trivia:

• Gyarmati married the 1952 Olympic 200m breaststroke champion Eva Székely

• In 1957, when the post-revolution, communist puppet government learned that Deszo and Eva were planning to defect, four men dragged Deszo to an abandoned building and beat him to a bloody pulp, leaving him for dead. He survived, and they used forged passports to flee the country with their daughter, Andrea who would later become a world record swimmer and Olympic Silver Medalist in 1972.

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