Áron Szilágyi (; born 14 January 1990) is a Hungarian right-handed

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

fencer. A five-time Olympian, Szilágyi is a three-time individual Olympic champion, 2021 team Olympic bronze medalist, and 2024 team Olympic silver medalist. Szilágyi competed in the

2008 Beijing Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

, the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. In Tokyo, Szilágyi became the only male fencer in history to win three individual Olympic gold medals. Szilágyi is also a 2018 team European champion, 2015 individual European champion, 2007 team world champion, and 2022 individual world champion. Szilágyi has served as the president of the Vasas Sport Club Fencing Division since 2020.

Career

Kovalev v Szilagyi 2013 Fencing WCH SMS-IN t194135

Kovalev v Szilagyi 2013 Fencing WCH SMS-IN t193136

Szilágyi began fencing at age nine at Vasas SC in Budapest, which remains his club . His first coach was György Gerevich, whom he considers as his personal hero alongside György's father, seven-time Olympic champion Aladár Gerevich. While he was still a cadet, Szilágyi joined the senior Hungarian team for the

2007 World Fencing Championships The 2007 World Fencing Championships were held at the SCC Peterburgsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by ar ...

Saint-Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Hungary won their first gold medal in men's sabre since 1998 after defeating France 45–43. For this performance, Tamás Decsi, Balázs Lontay,

Zsolt Nemcsik Zsolt Nemcsik (born 15 August 1977 in Budapest) is a Hungarian sabre fencer. He competed at three Olympic Games. Nemcsik's two greatest accomplishments is winning the silver medal in the 2004 Olympic Games after losing to Aldo Montano in t ...

and Áron Szilágyi were named Hungarian team of the year. He competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, finishing 15th in the individual event and 7th in the team event. He earned team bronze in the 2009 World Fencing Championships in

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

, and placed third in the individual event of the 2011 European Fencing Championships in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. The only Hungarian to qualify to the men's sabre event of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, he was seeded no.5. In the table of 16 he defeated 2008 Olympic champion Zhong Man of China, then overcame Germany's

Max Hartung Maximilian Hartung (born 8 October 1989) is a German right-handed sabre fencer, two-time team European champion, two-time individual European champion, 2014 team world champion, and two-time Olympian. Hartung is chairman of the Athletes Commi ...

and Russia's Nikolay Kovalev to reach the final. After taking an early 7-0 lead over Italy's Diego Occhiuzzi, Szilágyi closed the match on 15–8 to win Hungary's first gold medal in the London games. Szilágyi featured on the official poster and video campaign of the 2013 World Fencing Championships held in his home city, Budapest. He was defeated in the semi-finals by Nikolay Kovalev and took the bronze medal. In the team event, Hungary was eliminated in the table of 8 by Romania and finished 7th after the ranking matches. Szilágyi finished the season world no.2, a career best . In the 2014–15 season Szilágyi claimed his first continental title in Montreux, after prevailing over Max Hartung despite a right-ankle injury. Hartung took his revenge in the 2015 World Fencing Championships by defeating Szilágyi in the quarter-finals of the individual event. After the competition Szilágyi announced that he would prepare for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

with András Decsi, Singapore's national coach and elder brother to Szilágyi's teammate Tamás. He won his second gold medal at the 2016 Olympics, defeating Daryl Homer 15-8 in the final. At the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, Szilágyi won his third gold medal, defeating Luigi Samele 15-7 in the final. He won the gold medal in the men's sabre event at the 2022 World Fencing Championships held in Cairo, Egypt. In January 2024, he received the World Fair Play Award due to his exemplary action in the final of the Gerevich-Kovács-Kárpáti Men’s Sabre World Cup in Budapest in March, 2023. At the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, Szilágyi was defeated in the first round by Fares Arfa of Canada, his first Olympic defeat since 2008.

Medal record

Olympic Games

World Championships

European Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

Personal life

Szilágyi studied international relations at

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in ...

in Budapest. Beside his degree in international relations, he also holds a degree in psychology from Károli Gáspár University. He speaks three languages: Hungarian, English and French. His interests include psychology, travel, coffee and fine wines. In 2017, he married his long-time girlfriend, Betti. Their son was born in 2023.

Societal engagement

On 13 February 2013, Szilágyi presented the Bálint Balassi Memorial Sword, an international literary prize founded by Hungary, to French literary translator Jean-Luc Moreau at the Gellért Hotel. In spring 2013, he became a financial education ambassador of TakarékPont, a Hungarian financial service provider. In 2006, when the New Europe Foundation of MOL was launched, he was one of the first to win the support of the MOL Talent Support Programme. From 2013 until 2022, he was a Member of the Athletes' Commission of the International Fencing Federation, while from 2017–2019 he served as President of the Commission. Since 2017, he has been a goodwill ambassador of the New Europe Foundation, participating in the foundation's charity programmes for young people. In 2021, he accepted the invitation to become Social Chairman of the Forum for the Protection of Interests of Hungarian Elite Athletes. Since 2021, he has been a Member of the Athletes' Commission of the Hungarian Olympic Committee.

Awards

* Hungarian Sportsman of the Year: 2016, 2021 *Hungarian Junior fencer of the Year: 2006, 2009 *Junior Príma award (2010) * Hungarian Fencer of the Year (7): 2011, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 *Honorary Citizen of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

(2012) *FIE Fair Play Award: 2019 ;Orders and special awards * Officer's Cross of the

Hungarian Order of Merit The Hungarian Order of Merit () is the fourth highest State Order of Hungary. Founded in 1991, the order is a revival of an original order founded in 1946 and abolished in 1949. Its origins, however, can be traced to the Order of Merit of the K ...

(2012) * Commander's Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit (2016) * Grand Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit (2021) *

Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen The Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen ( Hungarian: ''Magyar Szent István Rend'') is the highest state honour bestowed by the President of Hungary. The order is made up of one grade and is awarded in recognition of the most special merits, outst ...

(2023)

References

External links

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Szilágyi, Áron Hungarian male sabre fencers Living people 1990 births Olympic fencers for Hungary Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Hungary Olympic silver medalists for Hungary Olympic bronze medalists for Hungary Olympic medalists in fencing Fencers from Budapest Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics World Fencing Championships medalists 21st-century Hungarian sportsmen Fencers at the 2023 European Games European Games bronze medalists for Hungary European Games medalists in fencing Fencers at the 2024 Summer Olympics