Aladár Gerevich

Aladár Gerevich

Gerevich in 1960

Personal information

Born

16 March 1910
Jászberény, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary

Died

14 May 1991 (aged 81)
Budapest, Hungary

Height

1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)

Weight

78 kg (172 lb)

Sport

Fencing

Club

Magyar Atlétikai Club
Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre
Budapesti Vörös Meteor SK

Medal record

Representing Hungary

Olympic Games
	1932 Los Angeles	Sabre team
	1936 Berlin	Sabre team
	1948 London	Sabre team
	1948 London	Sabre individual
	1952 Helsinki	Sabre team
	1956 Melbourne	Sabre team
	1960 Rome	Sabre team
	1952 Helsinki	Sabre individual
	1936 Berlin	Sabre individual
	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]

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Biography

Gerevich is one of only two athletes to win the same event six times (despite two Games cancelled because of the Second World War). He won gold medals in 1932 and 1960, an unprecedented 28 years apart. This record for the most years between first and last Olympic medals was tied by equestrian Mark Todd of New Zealand in 2012.^[3] This record was beaten by Isabell Werth who won team dressage gold medals for the first time in 1992 and the last time in 2021 in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

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.^[4]

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. 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.^[4] Asteroid 228893 Gerevich, discovered by Krisztián Sárneczky and Brigitta Sipőcz at Piszkéstető Station in 2003, was named in his memory.^[5] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 16 January 2014 (M.P.C. 86716).^[6]

References

^ "Legendary Olympians". CNN.com. 19 August 2008. Archived from the original on 25 April 2010. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
^ "Olympics Statistics: Aladár Gerevich". databaseolympics.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
^ Fred Woodcock (31 July 2012). "New Zealand three-day eventers win bronze". stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 12 January 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Aladár Gerevich Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
^ "228893 Gerevich (2003 RL8)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 27 August 2019.