Pál Szekeres

Pál Szekeres (born 22 September 1964) is a retired Hungarian foil and sabre fencer. He has the distinction of being the first person to have won medals at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.[2][3][4][5]

The native form of this personal name is Szekeres Pál. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Pál Szekeres
Szekeres in 2015
Personal information
Born (1964-09-22) 22 September 1964
Budapest, Hungary[1]
Sport
SportFencing
ClubÚjpesti TE
Medal record
Men's fencing
Representing  Hungary
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Seoul Foil, team
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1992 Barcelona foil individual
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta foil individual
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta sabre individual
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Sydney foil individual
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens sabre individual
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Beijing foil individual

Career in sport

Szekeres represented Hungary at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, and won a bronze medal in the team foil event.[3]

In 1991, he was injured in a bus accident, and used a wheelchair. He then took to wheelchair fencing. Described as "the most successful Paralympic athlete in Hungary",[3] he won a gold medal in foil at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, two gold at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, a bronze in 2000, 2004, and 2008. Outside the Paralympic Games, Szekeres participated in the Wheelchair Fencing World Cup in 2006, winning a bronze medal in the individual sabre event. He has also been European Champion, notably winning gold in the individual sabre event at the European Championships in 2007.[6] In 2008 he was ranked third in the world.[3]

Career in government and administration

From 1999 to 2005, Szekeres was deputy state secretary within the Ministry of Children, Youth and Sports.[3] He was also Ministerial Commissioner and Senior Programme Officer tasked with a government programme to provide "equal opportunity through sport for people living with disabilities".[7] From 1996 to 2000, he was a member of the Presidency of the International Wheelchair Fencing Committee.[4] From 2001 to 2005, he was "member at large" of the European Paralympic Committee, working in administration.[4][8] In 2005, he became President of the Hungarian Sports Federation for the Disabled. As of 2005, Szekeres was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Paralympic Committee of Hungary, and was participating in the organising of the International Paralympic Sport Film Festival.[4]

Szekeres has a university degree in physical education as a coach, and also holds a degree in marketing communication.[4]

See also

References
  1. Sports Reference
  2. "Pal Szekeres : médaillé olympique et paralympique !", Radio Canada, 23 September 2004
  3. "Hungarian Paralympic athlete Pal Szekeres's goal is to win gold" Archived 6 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Xinhua, 3 September 2008
  4. "Mr. Pal Szekeres", International Paralympic Committee
  5. "BBC Sport", 2 September 2012
  6. Comité Handisport de l'Isère, 16 July 2007
  7. "Terms of Reference for Documentation: “Equal opportunity through sport for people living with disabilities”, Project No. 02/SO/01-TL, website of the Hungarian Ministry of Children, Youth and Sports
  8. European Paralympic Committee News, September 2003
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