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Móric "Mór" Kóczán (; also known under the pseudonym Miklós Kovács; 8 January 1885 – 30 July 1972) was a Slovak–Hungarian
athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...
and
Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...
pastor. Specialized for the throwing events, his best results came in the javelin throw, having won five Hungarian championship titles between 1911 and 1918. Kóczán competed for Hungary at the
1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...
and
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 ...
. He produced his best performance in 1912 by winning the bronze medal in the javelin throw event. Following World War I, after the borders of Hungary were redrawn, Kóczán, together with hundreds of thousands of ethnic Hungarians, found himself in the newly created
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''ÄŒesko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
. In 1920 he became Czechoslovak champion in the javelin throw and four years later represented the country at the Olympics, where he finished in 23rd place. Besides athletics, he did not forget his pastoral duties and he also urged the local communities to take part in sports. In 1948 he was deported to Hungary and lived the last decades of his life in Alsógöd, where he died in 1972.


Early life

Kóczán was born on 8 January 1885 in
Kocs Kocs () is a village in Komárom-Esztergom county, Hungary. It lies west of Tata (Hungary), Tata and northwest of Budapest. A site of horse-drawn vehicle manufacture from the 1400s, the name is the source of the word ''carriage, coach'' and its e ...
,
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
to Lajos Kóczán, the rector of the local Reformed elementary school, and Franciska Bakos. He spent his childhood in Kocs before moving to Pápa, where he studied in the Reformed high school and later in the Theological Academy, earning his pastoral degree in 1908. Kóczán was inaugurated as the vice pastor of Csallóközaranyos (now Zlatná na Ostrove) in 1907, where he became pastor a year later and stayed in his position until 1914.


Athletics career and pastoral service

Kóczán began training athletics during his high school years and in 1900 he was already a member of
Budapesti TC Budapesti Torna Club was a Hungarian sports club in Budapest and the first football club in the country. Its football team were the winners of the first two seasons of Nemzeti Bajnokság I, in 1901 and 1902. History The club was founded on 21 ...
. An all-around athlete, Kóczán competed in the discus throw, the shot put and the javelin throw, achieving his best results in the latter one. In 1908 he was invited to an athletics competition in Budapest, which he won with a throw of 57.05 metres – a result better than the then-world record – and made into the Olympic team as well. Between 1909 and 1911 he broke his own record further three times, however, the
IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...
officially ratified the World record since 1912, therefore these results remained unofficial. Kóczán competed at the
1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...
in the discus throw event, the Greek discus competition, the freestyle javelin event, and the shot put competition, but remained without any success. In 1910 Kóczán switched to
Ferencvárosi TC Ferencvárosi Torna Club, commonly known as Ferencváros (), Fradi, FTC is a Hungary, Hungarian professional Association football, football club based in Ferencváros, Budapest, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the top flight of Hunga ...
, for them he won the inaugural javelin throw event of the Hungarian Athletics Championships in 1911, which was followed by another four titles (1912–14, 1918). He also triumphed in a number of national and international competitions, including the Austrian Athletics Championships in 1913 and the British Athletics Championships in 1914. Kóczán participated 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 ...
under the pseudonym Mór Kovács to avoid conflicts with the church, which opposed his sporting activities. In the qualifying round of his main event, the
javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...
, Kóczán topped his group and achieved third best overall result with 54.99 metres. In the final round he improved it to 55.50 but could not match defending champion Eric Lemming (60.64) and Julius Saaristo (58.66), and eventually won the bronze medal thus becoming the first non-Scandinavian to win a medal in the javelin throw at the Olympic Games as well as the first Hungarian to win an Olympic medal in athletics. In the two handed javelin throw competition Kóczán finished 12th and in the discus throw event he came 33rd. Kóczán won 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 javelin event at the 1914 AAA Championships. In 1914, after seven years of pastoral service in Csallóközaranyos, and shorter spells in Diósjenő (1909) and Diósförgepatony (now Orechová Potôň; March 1910–May 1910), Kóczán was relocated to Csilizradvány (now Čiližská Radvaň). In the same year, he married Karola Halász, with whom he had two daughters, Gizella and Edit. Upon the reluctance of the church towards athletics toned down, Kóczán formed a sports club in Csilizradvány and organized sporting activities in the village. Following
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
the northern Hungarian territories, including Csilizradvány, became part of the newly formed Czechoslovak state. Kóczán, taking the minority life, remained with his congregation and continued his pastoral work. He also participated in the Czechoslovak athletics contests, competing for Sparta Prague. Kóczán won the javelin throw event at the 1920 national championship and represented Czechoslovakia at the
1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...
in Paris; however, he could not repeat his former performances and finished only 23rd in the
javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...
. He gave up professional sport in 1926.


Death and legacy

Kóczán was
deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its Sovereignty, sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or ...
with his family from Czechoslovakia to Hungary in September 1948; subsequently, they settled in Alsógöd (now part of Göd), a village in the
Pilis Mountains Pilis Mountains is a mountainous region in the Transdanubian Mountains. Its highest peak is ''Pilis-tető'' at . It is a popular hiking destination in Hungary. It is the direct southern neighbour of the Visegrád Mountains which are based on ...
, where he served as a pastor until 1952. Kóczán did not stay entirely away from sport after his retirement, as he worked as a coach and sporting judge. He died after a short hospital treatment on 30 July 1972 in Alsógöd and was buried in the local Reformed cemetery. Since 1999, the city council of Göd has awarded the ''Mór Kóczán Ambulatory Prize of Göd'' every year to the best sportspeople in the town in three categories (men, women, team). In 2005 the Hungarian language elementary school in Zlatná na Ostrove took the name of Kóczán, and the local sports hall also bears his name. In 2008 the Hungarian language school of Čiližská Radvaň was also renamed in his honour. On the same occasion the memorial plaque of Kóczán, a work by Géza Nagy, was revealed as well.


References


External links

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Kóczán Mór (Kovács Miklós)
at the
Hungarian Olympic Committee The Hungarian Olympic Committee (, , MOB) is the National Olympic Committee representing Hungary. History The Hungarian Olympic Committee was founded on 19 December 1895, as sixth in the world, following the French, Greek, American, German a ...
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Koczan, Mor 1885 births 1972 deaths Sportspeople from Komárom-Esztergom County Hungarian male javelin throwers Hungarian male discus throwers Hungarian male shot putters Hungarian Calvinist and Reformed Christians Olympic athletes for Hungary Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Hungary Hungarians in Slovakia Olympic athletes for Czechoslovakia Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics Czechoslovak male javelin throwers Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)