Pál Kovács

Pál Kovács, who lived from 17 July 1912 to 8 July 1995, was a Hungarian athlete who began as a hurdler but eventually switched to fencing, and became a member of the Hungarian team that won team sabre gold at the Olympics. By the time he won his first fencing gold, in 1936, he had already been a member of the winning Hungarian team at the 1933 World Championships. The Hungarians won team sabre gold in five successive Olympics, from 1936 until 1960, and the same team won eight back-to-back world championships, counting the two Olympic years in which the Games double as world championships. Kovács also won individual gold in 1952 and individual bronze in 1948. In 1980 he became vice-president of the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime, and he died in Budapest in July 1995.