Olga Gyarmati (; 5 October 1924 – 27 October 2013) was a Hungarian all-round

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competed at three

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

in four different events. Her greatest success was winning the inaugural Olympic Women's Long Jump competition in London in 1948. Additionally, she won two Universiade gold medals and a number of Hungarian Athletics Championships titles in sprint and jumping events.

Career

Gyarmati was born in

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...

and began athletics in local club ''Debreceni TE''. She won her first Hungarian Athletics Championships title in 1941, at the age of 17, in the 100-metre dash. Shortly after, in the final years of

World War II 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 ...

, athletics suffered a setback in Hungary as virtually no competitive events were held in the country; in this period Gyarmati moved to

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 married to István Várkonyi. Gyarmati returned to competitive sport in 1947, continuing her career in ''Vasas SC''. Until 1956 Gyarmati won a total of 31 individual national titles in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, including three in 100-metre dash (1941, 1949, 1951), two in 200 metre-dash (1951, 1952), seven in the 80-metre hurdles (1948, 1949, 1951–1955), two in the high jump (1942, 1949), eight in the long jump (1948, 1949, 1951–56), and two in the pentathlon (1950, 1955). In addition, she won three team titles, one each in the high jump, long jump, and shot put. Gyarmati earned her biggest success 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 ...

, winning the gold medal in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

, thus becoming the second Hungarian female Olympic champion in athletics after

Ibolya Csák Ibolya Csák (6 January 1915 – 9 February 2006) was a Hungarian athlete. Career Csák was best known as the winner of the women's high jump at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. She won a gold medal in the European Championships in Athletics The E ...

. Gyarmati qualified for the event – the first ever Olympic long jump competition for women – with a result of 599 cm, just 26 cm short to the world record, being one of the main gold medal contenders. She eventually achieved 569.5 cm on her third attempt, setting a new Olympic record and winning the gold medal. In the high jump Gyarmati finished 17th. In the following years Gyarmati achieved further successes at the Universiade, winning the gold medal of the long jump event in 1949 and the 200 metres in 1951. Additionally, she won another four silvers and two bronzes in these championships. Gyarmati's next major event was 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 ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, however, she competed with limited success. In the long jump she came tenth, while in the 200-metre dash and the 4x100 metres relay she was eliminated during the heats. At 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 ...

Gyarmati competed only in the long jump, finishing 11th. The Games, however, were overshadowed by the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

and the subsequent Soviet invasion of Hungary, that led to many of the Hungarian Olympic Team members to defect and not to return to Hungary. Gyarmati was among the defectors as well; she emigrated to England and became a British citizen. While in England, Gyarmati married to Hungarian writer

Tamás Aczél Tamás Aczél (; 16 December 1921 – 18 April 1994) was a Kossuth Prize-winning Hungarian poet, writer, journalist and university professor. Career Aczél was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1921. He graduated in his hometown in 1939, subsequentl ...

, a fellow Hungarian emigrant. Later they settled in the United States. Gyarmati lived her final years as a recluse; she did not keep the touch with the Hungarian Olympic Committee and she did not even demand the annuity given for Olympic champions. She died on 27 October 2013 in

Greenfield, Massachusetts Greenfield is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Greenfield was first settled in 1686. The population was 17,768 at the 2020 census. Greenfield is home to Greenfield Community College, the Pioneer Val ...

Olympic results

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

: *Long Jump: Gold medal, 5.695m (Olympic Record) *High Jump: tied-17th, 1.40m

: *Long Jump: 10th, 5.67m *200m: 5th in 3rd heat round 1, 25.5 (did not qualify for next round) *4 × 100 m relay: Hungarian team disqualified in heat

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

: *Long Jump: 11th, 5.66m

References

External links

Profile at databaseolympics.comOlga Gyarmati-Aczel's obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyarmati, Olga 1924 births 2013 deaths Sportspeople from Debrecen Hungarian female high jumpers Hungarian female long jumpers Hungarian female sprinters Olympic gold medalists for Hungary Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Hungary Hungarian emigrants to England Hungarian emigrants to the United States Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom