Pál Szekeres (born 22 September 1964) is a retired Hungarian foil and sabre fencer. He has the distinction of being the first person to have won medals at both the

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 ...

and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

."Hungarian Paralympic athlete Pal Szekeres's goal is to win gold"
, Xinhua, 3 September 2008
International Paralympic Committee"BBC Sport"
2 September 2012

Career in sport

Szekeres represented Hungary at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

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, and won a bronze medal in the team foil event. In 1991, he was injured in a bus accident, and used a wheelchair. He then took to

wheelchair fencing Wheelchair fencing is a version of fencing for athletes with a disability. Wheelchair fencing is governed by the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation that is a List of international sport federations, federation of the Internat ...

. Described as "the most successful Paralympic athlete in Hungary", he won a gold medal in foil at the

1992 Summer Paralympics )( es, Deporte Sin Límites) , nations = 82 (BCN)75 (MAD) , athletes = 3,020 (BCN)1,600 (MAD) , opened_by = Queen Sofía , opening = 3 September (BCN)15 September (MAD) , closing = 14 September (BCN)22 September (MAD) , even ...

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, two gold at the 1996 Games in

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, a bronze in

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, and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. Outside the Paralympic Games, Szekeres participated in the Wheelchair Fencing World Cup in 2006, winning a bronze medal in the individual sabre event. He has also been European Champion, notably winning gold in the individual sabre event at the European Championships in 2007. In 2008 he was ranked third in the world.

Career in government and administration

From 1999 to 2005, Szekeres was deputy state secretary within the Ministry of Children, Youth and Sports. He was also Ministerial Commissioner and Senior Programme Officer tasked with a government programme to provide "equal opportunity through sport for people living with disabilities". From 1996 to 2000, he was a member of the Presidency of the International Wheelchair Fencing Committee. From 2001 to 2005, he was "member at large" of the European Paralympic Committee, working in administration.European Paralympic Committee News
September 2003 In 2005, he became President of the Hungarian Sports Federation for the Disabled. , Szekeres was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Paralympic Committee of Hungary, and was participating in the organising of the International Paralympic Sport Film Festival. Szekeres has a university degree in

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

as a coach, and also holds a degree in

marketing communication Marketing Communications (MC, marcom(s), marcomm(s) or just simply communications) refers to the use of different marketing channels and tools in combination.Tomse, & Snoj, 2014 Marketing communication channels focus on how businesses communicate ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Szekeres, Pal 1964 births Living people Hungarian male foil fencers Olympic fencers for Hungary Fencers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Hungary Olympic medalists in fencing Paralympic wheelchair fencers for Hungary Wheelchair fencers at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair fencers at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair fencers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair fencers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair fencers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Hungary Paralympic bronze medalists for Hungary Wheelchair fencers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Universiade medalists in fencing Universiade bronze medalists for Hungary Paralympic medalists in wheelchair fencing Medalists at the 1987 Summer Universiade Hungarian male sabre fencers Fencers from Budapest

Career in sport

Career in government and administration

See also

References

External links