Other Sports

Fencing, water polo and swimming supply a large share of Hungary's Olympic medals, but they are not the whole story. This chapter covers the other sports in which Hungary has done well, including canoeing and kayaking, boxing and wrestling, gymnastics and modern pentathlon, and then asks where Hungary has been less successful, which is just as revealing. Names, dates and results are from general knowledge and flagged for checking.

Canoeing and Kayaking

Canoeing, and especially the sprint events on flat water, has been one of Hungary's steadiest sources of medals, helped by the Danube, Lake Balaton and other waters (check). Hungary has won medals in this sport from the 1930s to the present (check).

• Why it fits. A country with many rivers and lakes, active clubs, and a sport with many events and team boats that can multiply medals (check the number of events).
• Champions. Women's kayakers such as Katalin Kovács and Danuta Kozák have won several Olympic golds (check the names, events and totals), and the sport has produced stars in both sexes.
• Mixed nationality. Some paddlers who compete for Hungary were born elsewhere, which is an example of the nationality question raised in Chapter 1 (check the cases).

Boxing and Wrestling

• László Papp. Won Olympic boxing golds in 1948, 1952 and 1956, the first boxer to win three successive Olympic titles (check). In the 1960s he turned professional with the state's permission, an unusual step in the communist period, and became European champion (check the details).
• Wrestling. Hungary has had a tradition in the Greco-Roman style and in freestyle wrestling, with medals across the twentieth century (check the names and results).

Gymnastics

Ágnes Keleti was one of the great gymnasts of the 1950s, winning a number of medals, including golds, at the Helsinki Games of 1952 and the Melbourne Games of 1956 (check the count). After the Melbourne Games, in the aftermath of the Hungarian Revolution, she stayed abroad and later settled in Israel, where she worked as a coach (check the details and Chapter 7). She lived to a great age (check). Later gymnasts, such as Zoltán Magyar on the pommel horse in the 1970s, also won Olympic titles (check).

Modern Pentathlon, Shooting and Others

Where Hungary Has Done Less Well

• Team ball sports. Apart from water polo and the football of 1952 (see The Golden Team & Hungarian Football), Hungary has won few medals in the large team sports such as basketball and volleyball (check; handball is a partial exception, check).
• Cycling, rowing and sailing. Fewer medals than in the strongest sports, though not none (check).
• Large-population sports. Sports where very big countries have deep talent pools make it harder for a small nation to win consistently (check).

The pattern supports the argument of Chapter 1: Hungary's success is concentrated in particular sports with a tradition, clubs and coaching, and a small country's totals depend on the number of medals available in those sports.

Exercises