Aladár Gerevich (16 March 1910 – 14 May 1991) was a Hungarian fencer, regarded as "the greatest Olympic swordsman ever". He won seven gold medals in

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 ...

at six different

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Biography

Gerevich was the first athlete to win the same Olympic event six times (despite two Games cancelled because of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

) with a record 28-year gap between first and last medals. (Both records were broken by Isabell Werth, who won seven team dressage golds between

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

.) Gerevich's wife, Erna Bogen (also known as Erna Bogathy), his son, Pál Gerevich, and his father-in-law, Albert Bogen (a silver medalist in team sabre for Austria at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

), all won Olympic medals in fencing. In the Hungarian Olympic trials for the 1960 Rome Olympics, the fencing committee told Gerevich that he was too old to compete. He silenced them by challenging the entire sabre team to individual matches and winning every match. He missed the finals of the 1960 Olympic individual sabre event, and a possible individual gold medal, by a single touch. After retiring, he coached fencing at the Vasas Sports Club in Budapest, where he died aged 81. Asteroid 228893 Gerevich, discovered by

Krisztián Sárneczky Krisztián Sárneczky (born 6 November 1974 in Budapest) is a Hungarian people, Hungarian teacher of geography and prolific discoverer of minor planets and supernovae, researching at Konkoly Observatory in Budapest, Hungary. He is a board member ...

and Brigitta Sipőcz at Piszkéstető Station in 2003, was named in his memory. The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Funct ...

on 16 January 2014 ().

References

External links

www.olimpic.org: Aladár Gerevich
with photos {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerevich, Aladar 1910 births 1991 deaths Sportspeople from Jászberény Hungarian male sabre fencers Fencers at the 1932 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for Hungary Olympic gold medalists for Hungary Olympic silver medalists for Hungary Olympic bronze medalists for Hungary Olympic medalists in fencing Recipients of the Olympic Order Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Burials at Farkasréti Cemetery Hungarian male foil fencers 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen

Biography

See also

References

External links