László Hódy (10 July 1934 – 26 May 2023) was a Hungarian-Australian basketball player who competed for Hungary in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

and Australia in the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

, the first person to compete at the

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

for two countries. Hódy was part of the Hungarian basketball team, which was eliminated after the group stage of the 1952 tournament. He played three games. Hódy migrated to Australia where he took the name Les Hody and played for the

Australia men's national basketball team The Australia men's national basketball team, nicknamed the Boomers after the slang term for a male kangaroo, represents Australia in international basketball competition. Since the late 1980s, Australia has placed among the world elite teams, ...

Hungary

László Hódy was born in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

on 10 July 1934 to Janos and Agnes Hódy who owned the Hódy shoe shop and factory. When Laszlo was 12, the artist Janos Vinkler painted ''Ket fiu'', a portrait of László and his older brother Janos. The brothers discovered basketball at school and were soon playing for Szeged Postas club in the first division. Laszlo then joined the Army teams Szeged Honved and Budapesti Honvéd and was selected to play for the Olympic team in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

at the age of 17. Janos, and their younger brothers Zsolt and Szabolcs and their sister Ildiko, would also represent Hungary in sports. With the national team, László won a silver medal at the 1953 European Championship in Moscow and won the 1954 World University and European Championships.

Australia

After the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

, László, his brother Janos and another basketballer Tibor Remai and Vera Neszmélyi, the 100m sprinter, all four European Champions, escaped together to Austria then Australia in 1957. There Laszlo and Vera married and settled in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. The brothers took the Australian names Les and John and played basketball for the newly created Budapest Basketball team. Les variously worked for, or owned in partnership with Vera, businesses in leatherwork, painting, assembling fridges, knitwear, fabric cutting, retail and truck driving. In 1963, Les gained Australian nationality, moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and was selected to play for Australia at the Tokyo Olympics where, at the age of 30, he was the second-highest scorer for Australia. In 1972, Les and Vera divorced and Les moved to New Zealand where he severed his Achilles’ tendon and ended his basketball career. Les worked as a painter, manager, driver and orchardist until, in 1975, he returned to Melbourne to become an egg farmer with his brothers John and Szabolcs. In 1983, Les married Eva Tar and together they established the cosmetics company Vogue Colours International which sold seasonal colour analysis, Poppy King and other beauty products. In 1995, Les, along with the rest of the 1955

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

team, received the Golden Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary The Hungarian Order of Merit () is the fourth highest Order (honour), 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 ...

. In 2012, Les was inducted into the Legends of the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

in Hungary. In 2015, as Laszlo Hody, he published his autobiography ''Not an Ordinary Life: From class enemy to Hall of Fame and a lifetime in between''.

Death

Hódi died on 26 May 2023, at the age of 88.Meghalt az Európa-bajnok magyar sportoló

References

External links

Personal Facebook pageNot an Ordinary Life - From class enemy to the hall of fame and a lifetime in between
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodi, Laszlo 1934 births 2023 deaths Australian men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1952 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Hungarian emigrants to Australia Hungarian men's basketball players Olympic basketball players for Hungary Olympic basketball players for Australia Sportspeople from Szeged 20th-century Australian sportsmen 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen