Károly Takács (21 January 1910 – 5 January 1976)Profile
from olympic.org was the first shooter to win two

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medals in the 25 metre rapid fire pistol event, both with his left hand after his right hand was seriously injured. He is the third known physically disabled athlete to have competed in the Olympic Games after

George Eyser George Louis Eyser (August 31, 1870 – March 6, 1919) was a German-American gymnast who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics, earning six medals in one day, including three gold and two silver medals. Eyser competed with a wooden prosthe ...

in 1904 and Olivér Halassy in 1928, followed by Liz Hartel in 1952,

Neroli Fairhall Neroli Susan Fairhall (26 August 1944 – 11 June 2006) was a New Zealand athlete, who was the first paraplegic competitor in the Olympic Games. Biography Born in Christchurch in 1944, Fairhall took up archery following a motorbike accident ...

in 1984 and Oscar Pistorius in 2012.

Military service and early shooting career

Takács was born in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and joined the

Hungarian Army The Hungarian Ground Forces ( hu, Magyar Szárazföldi Haderő) is the land branch of the Hungarian Defence Forces, and is responsible for ground activities and troops including artillery, tanks, APCs, IFVs and ground support. Hungary's ground ...

. By 1936, he was a world-class pistol shooter, but he was denied a place in the Hungarian shooting team for the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

on the grounds that he was a

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

, and only

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

s were allowed to compete. This prohibition was lifted in Hungary after the Berlin Games, and Takács had expectations of success at the

1940 Summer Olympics The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, were originally scheduled to be held from September 21 to October 6, 1940, in Tokyo City, Empire of Japan. They were rescheduled for Helsinki, Finland, to be held from ...

, scheduled to be held in Tokyo. During army training in 1938, his right hand was badly injured when a faulty grenade exploded. Takács was determined to continue his shooting career, and switched to shooting with his left hand. He practiced in secret, surprising his countrymen when he won the Hungarian national pistol shooting championship in the spring of 1939. He also was a member of the Hungarian team that won the 1939 UIT World Shooting Championships in the event.

Olympic successes, flourishing career

The Olympic Games scheduled for 1940 and 1944 were canceled due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. However, Takács surprised the world by winning the gold medal at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

in London, aged 38, beating the favourite,

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

Carlos Enrique Díaz Sáenz Valiente Carlos Enrique Díaz Sáenz Valiente (25 January 1917 – 14 February 1956) was an Argentine sport shooter and racing driver . He was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina. He won the silver medal in 25 metre rapid fire pistol at the 1948 Summer ...

, the reigning world champion. Takács won a second gold medal in the same event at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

in Helsinki.

Later career

Takács also attended the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

in Melbourne, but finished eighth and failed to win a third medal.Profile
from Magyar Olimpiai Bizottság (in Hungarian) Although most associated with the rapid fire pistol, Takács also won a bronze medal at the 1958 ISSF World Shooting Championships in 25 metre center-fire pistol. He also won 35 Hungarian national shooting championships.

After shooting career

After his shooting career, Takács became a coach. He trained Hungarian Szilárd Kun, who won the silver medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He ended his army career as a lieutenant colonel.

Legacy

His story has given him a place among the "Olympic heroes" of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

. Two Olympic gold medals were won by Józef Zapędzki (Mexico 1968 and Munich 1972) as well but not until

Ralf Schumann Ralf Schumann (born 10 June 1962) is a former German 25 m rapid fire pistol shooter. He is a three-time Olympic Champion and twice the World Champion. One of the most decorated shooters of the modern era, he is the first of two sport shooters to ...

's third victory in the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

did a shooter succeed in winning three gold medals in this event. File:Takács Károly preparing pistol for shooting on Poland-Hungary-Yugoslavia 1961.jpg, Takács preparing for shooting in Poland-Hungary-Yugoslavia competition in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

, Poland in 1961 File:Takács Károly shooting on Poland-Hungary-Yugoslavia match 1961.jpg, Takács shooting in Poland-Hungary-Yugoslavia competition in Bydgoszcz in 1961 File:Tak%C3%A1cs_K%C3%A1roly_s%C3%ADrja.jpg, Takács's gravestone in Budapest

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Takacs, Karoly 1910 births 1976 deaths Hungarian male sport shooters ISSF pistol shooters Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Hungary Olympic medalists in shooting Olympic shooters of Hungary Shooters at the 1948 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1952 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1956 Summer Olympics Hungarian military personnel Sportspeople from Budapest