László Tábori (July 6, 1931 – May 23, 2018) was a Hungarian

middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

- and long-distance runner, best known for equalling the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

and placing 4th in that event at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

Biography

Early career and rise to fame

Tábori was born in

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

. Although he had already taken up running in his youth, his serious career only started in the early 1950s under

Mihály Iglói Mihály Iglói (September 5, 1908 – January 4, 1998) was a Hungary, Hungarian distance running coach. Iglói coached runners such as Sándor Iharos, István Rózsavölgyi, László Tábori, Bob Schul and Jim Beatty. Counting both outdoors and in ...

, the legendary coach of Tábori's club, Honvéd Budapest. Already part of the world-record-breaking 1953 and 1954 4 x 1500 metres relay teams of Hungary and the Honvéd Budapest club respectively, he exploded to international fame in 1955, together with Iglói's other star pupils,

Sándor Iharos Sándor Iharos (10 March 1930 – 24 January 1996) was a Hungary, Hungarian long-distance runner. Though unsuccessful in major competitions, Iharos ran List of world records in athletics, world records over multiple distances and is one of only t ...

and

István Rózsavölgyi István Rózsavölgyi (30 March 1929 – 27 January 2012) was a Hungary, Hungarian athlete who competed mainly in the 1500 metres. Career Rózsavölgyi was born in Budapest. One of the star pupils of Mihály Iglói, he entered the 1956 S ...

. On May 28, 1955, he became only the third man in the world to run a four-minute mile, running 3:59.0 and soundly beating both Chris Chataway and Brian Hewson. (For more than twenty years, he and Rózsavölgyi would remain the only Hungarians to run a four-minute mile.) On September 6, he equalled the

world record (set just a month earlier by Iharos) with a time of 3:40.8.

1956 Melbourne Olympics

The

1956 Melbourne Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the except ...

occurred at a psychologically unfortunate time for team Hungary, as 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 ...

had just been bloodily crushed by the

Soviet military The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...

. (This was all the worse as Honvéd Budapest was at that time the sports club of the

Hungarian army The Hungarian Ground Forces (, ) constitute the land branch of the Hungarian Defence Forces, responsible for ground activities and troops, including artillery, tanks, Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs), and g ...

.) The effects of this were obvious. Iharos missed out on the Olympics entirely, ostensibly due to a minor ankle injury but quite probably because of the revolution, and Rózsavölgyi shockingly went out in the 1500 m heats. Tábori did much better by comparison; expected to medal, he still finished a very respectable 4th in the

and 6th in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

. At the close of the Melbourne Games, Tábori decided to defect to the West with his coach, Mihály Iglói. He soon left for the United States and settled in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Post Olympics

Tabori won the winning the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

title in the 1 mile event at the

1960 AAA Championships The 1960 AAA Championships was the 1960 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 15 to 16 July 1960 at White City Stadium White City Stadium in London ...

Coaching career

Tábori returned to distance running as a coach in 1967, his training methods based directly on Iglói's. He coached the now defunct program at

Los Angeles Valley College Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC, Valley College, or Valley) is a public community college in Los Angeles, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, ...

to three state championships and coached the San Fernando Valley Track Club since 1973. He was a vocal advocate of

interval training Interval training is a type of training exercise that involves a series of high-intensity workouts interspersed with rest or break periods. The high-intensity periods are typically at or close to anaerobic exercise, while the recovery periods invol ...

. His most notable pupil was Jacqueline Hansen, who ran two world records in the marathon.

Miki Gorman Michiko "Miki" Suwa Gorman (August 9, 1935 – September 19, 2015) was an American marathon runner of Japanese ancestry. Gorman did not begin running competitively until she was in her mid-30s, but rapidly emerged as one of the elite marathoning ...

also ran a world record in the marathon. He continued coaching at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, coaching among others, Duane Solomon.

Death

Tábori died on May 23, 2018, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He was 86 years old.

References

External links

Laszlo Tabori's homepage
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tabori, Laszlo 1931 births 2018 deaths Hungarian male middle-distance runners Hungarian male long-distance runners World record setters in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from Košice Athletes from the Košice Region Hungarians in Slovakia USC Trojans track and field coaches Hungarian sports coaches American sports coaches Hungarian emigrants to the United States Olympic athletes for Hungary Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Hungarian defectors Defectors to the United States Sports coaches from California 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen