Biography
Martin was part of the Hungarian team which won the gold medals in the 1952 and the 1956 tournaments. He played two matches, including the "Blood in the Water" semi-final match against the Soviet Union, and scored five goals. His name is often left out of the 1956 Olympics because he defected to the United States immediately after the games, along with numerous fellow Olympians, and the communist party of Hungary at the time omitted him. In all, the U.S. State Department granted asylum to 34 of the Hungarian athletes. In June 2012, the magazine Sports Illustrated published a detailed account of the Hungarian defections that resulted from the Soviet Union's involvement in Hungary. The magazine itself played a key role in facilitating a secret plan to bring defecting Olympians to the United States. When the Hungarian delegation touched down in Darwin, Australia, Martin, one of the only athletes who read English, found a newspaper in the transit lounge and shared its reports. He became one of the primary spokespeople for the group. As the best English speaker among the Hungarian Olympians who defected, Martin found himself quoted so often that he feared he would be punished as a ringleader if he were to return to Hungary. So, with an art history master's degree from the University of Budapest, he enrolled at the University of Southern California but played only one semester of water polo because he found the sport there "too Mickey Mouse." He was the first person to receive a water polo scholarship to USC. Instead he buckled down, earned his B.A. in French in three terms and, after earning a Ph.D. in Romance languages at Princeton on a Woodrow Wilson scholarship, became a professor. "The U.S. of that period was a land of endless opportunities," he says, "but my teaching career has been like an avalanche, straight down -- from Princeton to USC toSee also
* Hungary men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics * List of Olympic champions in men's water polo * List of Olympic medalists in water polo (men) * Blood in the Water matchReferences
*http://www.pasadena.edu/news/newsItem.cfm?ID=4439 *http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1200409/1/index.htm *http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/feature_2/Beijing_Sister_Cities/Helsinki/Featured_Pictures_of_Helsinki/t917883.htm *http://www.americanhungarianfederation.org/FamousHungarians/images/vizilabda_1952_lg.jpg *http://www.americanhungarianfederation.org/FamousHungarians/images/vizilabda_1956_lg.jpg *http://www.h2opolo.be/geschiedenis/WP_1952_OS.html *http://www.waterpololegends.com/2009/04/1952-helsinki-golden-hungarian-team.htmlExternal links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Miklos 1931 births 2019 deaths Water polo players from Budapest Hungarian male water polo players Hungarian emigrants to the United States Olympic water polo players of Hungary Olympic gold medalists for Hungary Pasadena City College faculty Princeton University alumni University of Southern California alumni Water polo players at the 1952 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in water polo Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics 20th-century Hungarian people 21st-century Hungarian people