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Hungarian Olympic Triumph!
by Bryan Dawson

Did you know...as of 2016, Hungary ranks 8th in the world in medals at the Summer Olympic Games despite its being torn apart after WWI and losing half her population and 2/3 of her territory. This does not include an additional 6 medals won in the Winter Olympics nor the Hungarians that won medals as nationals of other countries after borders were redrawn or after large-scale emigration.

Ferenc Kemeny, founding member of the International Olympic Committee.

The beginnings of the Olympic movement in Hungary go back further than the Games in Athens. Ferenc Kemeny, a great pacifist and member of the International Peace Bureau, was one of Pierre de Coubertin's first kindred spirits, with whom he struck up a friendship in the 1880's.

Kemeny took an active part in the Congress for the re-establishment of the Games held in Paris in 1894 and was one of the founding members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Coubertin supported Kemeny's suggestion to hold the first Olympics in Budapest in 1896 in honor of Hungary's 1000 years of statehood. While the dream of hosting an Olympics is not yet realized, Hungary has won more Olympic medals than any other nation that has never hosted the Games.

Hungary in the Olympics - Select a Year:

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COPYRIGHT:
Please ask for permission and CITE this source, attributing Bryan Dawson, before using this information.

• [Start page]
• [Ferenc Kemeny and the Origins of the Olympic Movement]
• [1896, Athens]
• [1900, Paris]
• [1904, St. Louis]

• [1906, Athens]
• [1908, London]
• [1912, Stockholm]
• [1920, Antwerp]
• [1924, Paris]
• [1928, Amsterdam]
• [1932, Los Angeles]

• [1936, Berlin]
• [1948, London]  
• [1952, Helsinki]
• [1956, Melbourne]
• [1960, Rome]
• [1964, Tokyo]
• [1968, Mexico City]

• [1972, Munich]
• [1976, Montreal]
• [1980, Moscow]
• [1984, Los Angeles]
• [1988, Seoul]
• [1992, Barcelona]
• [1996, Atlanta]

• [2000, Sydney]
• [2004, Athens]
• [2008, Beijing]
• [2012, London]
• [2014, Sochi]
• [2016, Rio de Janeiro]
  

1908 London Olympic Highlights

• Men's Team Fencing begins historic streak of Gold through 14 CONSECUTIVE Olympics!
• Fencing Legend Fuchs Jeno wins first 2 out of 4 Golds
• Hungarian swimming continues historic dominance of the sport
  • Zoltan Halmay wins 9th Medal
  • Men's Swimming Team take Silver

Medal	Name	Event
	Dr. Foldes Dezső	Fencing individual / vívás egyéni
	Dr. Fuchs Jenő	Fencing individual / vívás egyéni
	Dr. Fuchs Jenő	Team Fencing / vívás csapat
	Dr. Gerde Oszkár	Team Fencing / vívás csapat
	Dr. Toth Péter	Team Fencing / vívás csapat
	Werkner Lajos	Team Fencing / vívás csapat
	Weisz Richard	Heavyweight wrestling / birkózás nehézsuly
	Zulawszky Béla	Fencing individual / kardvivas egyéni
	Dr. Somodi István	Highjump / magasugrás
	Munk József	Swimming relay / úszás 4x200m gyors
	Zachár Imre	Swimming relay / úszás 4x200m gyors
	Las-Torres Béla	Swimming relay / úszás 4x200m gyors
	Halmay Zoltán	Swimming relay / úszás 4x200m gyors
	Halmay Zoltán	Swimming relay / úszás 100m gyors
	Bodor Ödön	Relay / 1600 m Olimpiai váltó
	Nagy József	Relay / 1600 m Olimpiai váltó
	Wiesner Frigyes	Relay / 1600 m Olimpiai váltó
	Simon Pál	Relay / 1600 m Olimpiai váltó
	Károly Levitzky	Rowing, Single sculls

See all 1908 medalists (in Hungarian)

Featured 1908 Olympians

Fuchs Jeno:
(b. October 29, 1882 - d. March 14, 1955)

One of the greatest fencers in Olympic history... Fuchs competed in only two Olympiads for Hungary, but won every competition he entered.

At the1908 London Games, had only one touch against him in the finals. In the team competition, Fuchs led Hungary to gold with victories over Germany (9-0), Italy (11-5), and Bohemia (9-7).

Featured Olympian, Weisz Richard:
(b. 1879, d. 1945)

Champion Weightlifter, Wrestling Gold...
A enormous man who weighed 209 pounds and possessed a 20-inch neck and a 50-inch chest, Weisz competed as a heavyweight in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1908 London Olympics. In his first match, he almost pinned his Danish opponent in the first minute and eventually won in a little over 13 minutes. After defeating another Dane in the second round, Weisz became Hungary's first Olympic wrestling champion by defeating Aleksandr Petrov of Russia in the gold medal match.

Weisz, who began wrestling at the age of 20, was also a marvelous weightlifter. Besides his Olympic medal in wrestling, Richard was the Hungarian National heavyweight wrestling champion, Austria's first national weightlifting champion, and was also Hungary's National heavyweight weightlifting champion from 1903-1909.

Men's Team Fencing begins historic streak of Gold through
14 CONSECUTIVE Olympics!