2008 Beijing Highlights
- Hungarian Swimming continues its Medal-Winning Legacy!
- Laszlo Cseh wins 3 silver medals!
- Rebecca Soni claims gold in record time! Hungarian-American Rebecca Soni (Szőnyi) set the world record in the 200m Breaststroke. She also took home 2 Silver Medals in the 100m breaststroke and the 4x100m medley relay. Known to her family and friends as “Reb” and born in Freehold Borough, New Jersey, Rebecca is the daughter of Peter and Kinga Soni from Kolozsvár (now a part of Rumania after annexation at the tragic Treaty of Trianon in 1920)!
- Hungarian kayak / canoe also repeats its medal performance with Gold, Silver, and Bronze!
- Attila Vajda takes Gold!
- Natasa Janics and Katalin Kovacs repeat Gold!
- The brothers Michal (Mihály) and Richard Riszdorfer and Juraj (György) Tarr win Silver for Slovakia in the K-4 1000m! All are from Komárom, now a part of Southern Slovakia after the tragic Treaty of Trianon in 1920.
- Legendary Hungarian Waterpolo repeats Gold Medal performance (winning second of unprecendented three repeat Olympic Gold Medals)!
Medal
Name
Event
Rebecca Soni
Swimming: 200m Breaststroke WR!
Attila Vajda
Canoeing, Men’s C-1 1000 m
Natasa Janics
Canoeing, Women’s K-2 500 m
Katalin Kovács
Canoeing, Women’s K-2 500 m
Susan (Zsuzsanna) Francia
Tibor Benedek
Men’s Waterpolo
Péter Biros
Men’s Waterpolo
Rajmund Fodor
Men’s Waterpolo
István Gergely
Men’s Waterpolo
Tamás Kásás
Men’s Waterpolo
Gergely Kiss
Men’s Waterpolo
Norbert Madaras
Men’s Waterpolo
Tamás Molnár
Men’s Waterpolo
Ádám Steinmetz
Men’s Waterpolo
Barnabás Steinmetz
Men’s Waterpolo
Zoltán Szécsi
Men’s Waterpolo
Tamás Varga
Men’s Waterpolo
Attila Vári
Men’s Waterpolo
Michal Riszdorfer
Canoeing, Men’s K-4 1000 m
Richard Riszdorfer
Canoeing, Men’s K-4 1000 m
Juraj Tarr
Canoeing, Men’s K-4 1000 m
Rebecca Soni
Swimming: 100m Breaststroke
Rebecca Soni
Swimming: 4x100m medley relay
László Cseh
Swimming, Men’s 200 m butterfly
László Cseh
Swimming, Men’s 200 m individual medley
Zoltán Fodor
Wrestling, Men’s Greco-Roman 84 kg
Natasa Janics
Canoeing, Women’s K-4 500 m
Katalin Kovács
Canoeing, Women’s K-4 500 m
Danuta Kozák
Canoeing, Women’s K-4 500 m
Gabriella Szabó
Canoeing, Women’s K-4 500 m
Enikő Barabás
Rowing, Women’s Eight
Ildikó Mincza-Nébald
Fencing, Women’s individual épée
Tamás Kiss
Canoeing, Men’s C-2 1000 m
György Kozmann
Canoeing, Men’s C-2 1000 m
- Read more on [Wikipedia]
- Search all 2008 medalists (magyarul / in Hungarian)
Related
2000 – 2008 Hungarian Water Polo Team
The Hungarian Water Polo Team is considered the world’s top power in the history of water polo, having won 15 Olympic, 9 World Championship, 5 FINA World League, 8 FINA World Cup and 21 European Championship medals. Hungary are the current Olympic gold medalists, since the 2008 Olympic Games. [more on Wikpedia]
Blood in the Water: Hungary vs.
The Soviet Union…
Amid
all the tension caused by the Soviet invasion of Hungary, Hungary
and the Soviet Union met in a water polo match, one of the most famous
water polo matches in history.
The game was played in a packed stadium with many Hungarian-born Australians
in the crowd. In addition to the political tension it was also a crucial
game in terms of the water polo competition. If Hungary were to win
it would almost be assured of the gold medal.
The match was rough from the beginning but became increasingly violent after Hungary took a 4-0 lead in the second half.At one point a Hungarian player, Ervin Zador, was heavily knocked by a Soviet player and emerged from the pool with serious facial bleeding. The crowd became enraged and police were called to prevent a riot. The match was abandoned shortly before full time and Hungary was credited with a victory. This ultimately secured it the gold medal after the completion of other matches.
Many of the Hungarian team were not able to return to their homeland to rejoice in this victory, choosing instead to remain in Australia or seek refuge in other countries rather than return to their war-ravaged country.
In 2007, the film “Freedom’s Fury](https://smile.amazon.com/ch/34-1253539?ie=UTF8&keywords=Freedom%27s%20Fury&tag=americanhunga-20&index=dvd&link_code=qs)wn as the “Blood in the Water Match,” the documentary follows the journey of the Hungarian Olympic water polo team and its young star, Ervin Zador, who find themselves the unwitting focal point of the most politicized sports match ever played.
](https://smile.amazon.com/ch/34-1253539?ie=UTF8&keywords=Freedom's Fury&tag=americanhunga-20&index=dvd&link_code=qs)
See Trailers of “Freedom’s Fury” on YouTube or buy the film on AHF’s Amazon store
