1948 London Olympic Highlights
The tragedy of WWII interrupted the 1940 and 1944 Olympics. Hundreds of thousands of Hungarians died or fled the country, many of them great athletes. Despite these challenges, Hungary won 15 Gold, 27 Silver, and 22 bronze. Gyula (Július) Torma won boxing Gold for “Czechoslovakia.” His parents lived across the artificial borders created after the annexation of Northern Hungary following WWI and the Treaty of Trianon.
- Legendary Boxer Laszlo Papp wins first of his historic 3 Consecutive Golds!
- Hungarian Fencers repeat their mastery!
- Gerevich Aladár continues his Fencing mastery, earning another Gold!
- Fencer Elek Ilona wins 2nd Consecutive Gold Medals!
- Men’s Swimming Team take Silver
- Deszo Gyarmati and Men’s Waterpolo
Team medal again,
taking Silver
Medal
Name
Event
Gerevich Aladár
Individual Fencing / vívás kard egyéni
Elek Ilona
Individual Fencing / vívás tőr egyéni
Gerevich Aladár (Gerei Aladár)
Team Fencing / vívás kard csapat
Berczelly Tibor
Team Fencing / vívás kard csapat
Kárpáti Rudolf
Team Fencing / vívás kard csapat
Kovács Pál Ádám
Team Fencing / vívás kard csapat
Papp Bertalan
Team Fencing / vívás kard csapat
Rajcsányi László
Team Fencing / vívás kard csapat
Papp László
Boxing / ökölvívás középsúly 73 kg
Gyarmati Olga
Long Jump / távolugrás
Németh Imre (His son would win Gold in 1976!)
Hammerthrow / kalapácsvetés WORLD RECORD
Csík Tibor
Boxing / ökölvívás harmatsúly 54kg
Takács Károly
25m rapid fire pistol / gyorstűzelő pisztoly
Pataki Ferenc
Gymnastics Floor / műszabadgyakorlat
Bóbis Gyula
Wrestling / birkózás szabadfogás 87 kg
Torma Gyula (Július)
Boxing: Welterweight (Competing for Czechoslovakia)
Balázs Erzsébet
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Fehér Anna
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Karcsics Irén
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Köteles Erzsébet
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Kövi Mária
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Nagy Margit
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Tass Olga
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Weckinger Edit (Vásárhelyi Edit)
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Brandi Jenő
Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
Csuvik Oszkár
Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
Fábián Dezső
Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
Gyarmati Dezső
Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
Győrfi Endre
Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
Holop Miklós
Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
Jeney László
Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
Lemhényi Dezső (Kollmann Dezső)
Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
Pók Pál
Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
Szittya Károly
Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
Szívós István
Team Waterpolo / vizilabda csapat
Szilvásy Miklós
Boxing / birkózás kötöttfogás 73 kg
Kádas Géza
Swimming freestyle relay / 4×200 m gyors
Mitró György
Swimming freestyle relay / 4×200 m gyors
Nyéki Imre
Swimming freestyle relay / 4×200 m gyors
Szathmáry Elemér
Swimming freestyle relay / 4×200 m gyors
Mogyorósi-Klencs János
Gymnastics Floor / műszabadgyakorlat
Kékesy Andrea
Figure Skating – pairs / műkorcsolya páros
Király Ede
Figure Skating – pairs / műkorcsolya páros
Kovács Pál
Individual Fencing / vívás kard egyéni
Maszlay Lajos
Individual Fencing / vívás tőr egyéni
Mogyorósi-Klencs János
Pommel Horse / lóugrása
Pataki Ferenc
Pommel Horse / lóugrása
Novák Éva
Swimming breastroke / úszás 200m mell
Kádas Géza
Swimming freestyle / úszás gyors 100m
Mitró György
Swimming freestyle / úszás gyors 1500m
Tóth Ferenc
Wrestling / birkózás kötöttfogás 62 kg
Ferencz Károly
Wrestling / birkózás kötöttfogás 67 kg
Szendrey Antal
Rowing 2 / evezés kettes
Zimonyi Róbert
Rowing 2 / evezés kettes
Zsitnik Béla
Rowing 2 / evezés kettes
Baranyai László
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Fekete József
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Mogyorósi-Klencs János
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Mogyoróssy Győző
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Pataki Ferenc
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Sántha Lajos dr
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Tóth Lajos
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Várkői Ferenc
Team Gymnastics / torna összetett csapat
Várszegi József
Javelin / gerelyhajítás
Földes Éva dr.
Literature Epic Novel / művészet irodalom
Related
Featured 1948 Olympians
Featured
Olympian,
Karoly Takacs:(b. Budapest, 1/21/1910, d. 1/5/1976)
The Right-Handed Shooter Who Won With His Left Hand…this “handicapped” Olympian would become the first repeat Gold Medal winner of the rapid-fire pistol event! Karoly Takacs was a member of the Hungarian pistol shooting team in 1938 when, while serving as a sergeant in the army, a defective grenade exploded in his right hand – his pistol hand – and shattered it completely. After spending a month in the hospital, Takacs secretly taught himself to shoot with his left hand.
The following year he won the Hungarian pistol shooting championship and was a member of the Hungarian team that won the automatic pistol event at the world championships. The next two Olympics, in 1940 and 1944, were cancelled because of war, but in 1948 Takacs qualified for the Hungarian Olympic team in the rapid-fire pistol event. He was 38 years old. Before the competition, the favorite, world champion and world record holder, Carlos Enrique Díaz Saenz Valiente, asked Takacs why he was in London. Takacs replied, “I’m here to learn.” Takacs won the gold medal and beat the world record by ten points. During the medal ceremony, Díaz Saenz Valiente, who finished second, turned to Takacs and said, “You have learned enough.” Four years later in Helsinki, Takács successfully defended his Olympic title to become the first repeat winner of the rapid-fire pistol event.
Hungary, with its great sporting culture, has a proud history of medal winning “Handicapped” Olympians. Amputee Oliver Halassy won two Gold Medals in Waterpolo in 1932 and 1936 and a Silver in 1928. Fencer Rejto Ildiko, a triumphant “handicapped” Icon, and winner of 7 Olympic Medals (two Gold), was still a Champion in 1999! Rejto participated in FIVE Olympics – 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, and 1976 – and won 7 medals!
Laszlo Papp:(b. 3/25/1926 Budapest)
A Tragic
Champion…
After winning the Olympic middleweight title in 1948
Hungary’s László Papp (Papp Laci) won the light-middleweight crown
in 1952 and 1956 to become the first boxer to win three
Olympic gold medals in 1948, 1952, and 1956 (only the great Teofilo Stevenson of Cuba
could later match this feat). He also won European amateur titles in
1949 and 1951. Possibly his finest victory in the Olympic
ring came in the 1956 final when he beat José Torres
(USA), a future world professional champion. A skillful,
hard-punching southpaw, Papp was the first fighter from
the Soviet bloc allowed to turn professional and he won
the European middleweight title in 1962. He would
eventually amass 6 European Middleweight Titles
(1962-1965). However, in 1965, the communist Hungarian authorities
withdrew their permission for him to fight professionally
and the chance of a world title bout was denied him. Papp
later served as the coach of the Hungarian national boxing
team from 1971-92.
