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Aladár Gerevich

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The native form of this personal name is Gerevich Aladár. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Aladár Gerevich
Gerevich in 1960
Personal information
Born(1910-03-16)16 March 1910
Jászberény, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary
Died14 May 1991(1991-05-14) (aged 81)
Budapest, Hungary
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight78 kg (172 lb)
Sport
SportFencing
ClubMagyar Atlétikai Club
Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre
Budapesti Vörös Meteor SK
Medal record
Representing  Hungary
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1932 Los Angeles Sabre team
Gold medal – first place 1936 Berlin Sabre team
Gold medal – first place 1948 London Sabre team
Gold medal – first place 1948 London Sabre individual
Gold medal – first place 1952 Helsinki Sabre team
Gold medal – first place 1956 Melbourne Sabre team
Gold medal – first place 1960 Rome Sabre team
Silver medal – second place 1952 Helsinki Sabre individual
Bronze medal – third place 1936 Berlin Sabre individual
Bronze medal – third place 1952 Helsinki Foil team

Aladár Gerevich (16 March 1910 – 14 May 1991) was a Hungarian fencer, regarded as "the greatest Olympic swordsman ever".[1] He won seven gold medals in sabre at six different Olympic Games.[2]

Biography

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Gerevich was the first athlete to win the same Olympic event six times (despite two Games cancelled because of the Second World War) with a record 28-year gap between first and last medals.[3] (Both records were broken by Isabell Werth, who won seven team dressage golds between 1992 and 2024.[4])

Gerevich's wife, Erna Bogen (also known as Erna Bogathy), his son, Pál Gerevich, and his father-in-law, Albert Bogen (a silver medalist in team sabre for Austria at the 1912 Summer Olympics), all won Olympic medals in fencing.[5]

In the Hungarian Olympic trials for the 1960 Rome Olympics, the fencing committee told Gerevich that he was too old to compete. He silenced them by challenging the entire sabre team to individual matches and winning every match.[3] He missed the finals of the 1960 Olympic individual sabre event, and a possible individual gold medal, by a single touch. After retiring, he coached fencing at the Vasas Sports Club in Budapest, where he died aged 81.[5] Asteroid 228893 Gerevich, discovered by Krisztián Sárneczky and Brigitta Sipőcz at Piszkéstető Station in 2003, was named in his memory.[6] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 16 January 2014 (M.P.C. 86716).[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Legendary Olympians". CNN.com. 19 August 2008. Archived from the original on 25 April 2010. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  2. ^ "Olympics Statistics: Aladár Gerevich". databaseolympics.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Aladar Gerevich, one of the greatest of all Olympic fencers". olympics.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  4. ^ Merrell, Chloe (3 August 2024). "Isabell Werth: All medals, records and titles - full list". Paris 2024 Olympics. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Aladár Gerevich Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  6. ^ "228893 Gerevich (2003 RL8)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  7. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
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