Aladar Gerevich
Hungary
Fencing
Overall Ranks
#4 among Fencers
#2 among Hungarian Olympians
Olympic Results
1932
Team Sabre - Gold
1936
Individual Sabre - Bronze
Team Sabre - Gold
1948
Individual Sabre - Gold
Team Sabre - Gold
1952
Team Foil - Bronze
Individual Sabre - Silver
Team Sabre - Gold
1956
Team Sabre - Gold
1960
Team Sabre - Gold
Total
Events - 14
Gold - 7
Silver - 1
Bronze - 2
Aladar Gerevich was born on March 16, 1910 in Jaszbereny, Austria-Hungary, which is now part of Hungary. He ended up having one of the longest careers of any Olympian in history, and it all started in 1932, when he made his first Olympic team at the age of 22.
In his first Olympics, he only competed in the team sabre event, where Hungary was the defending champ and the favorite. Hungary won their opening pool easily, beating Denmark and Mexico by a total of 25 matches to 3, with Gerevich going 3-1 personally against Mexico. In the final pool, Gerevich competed in all 3 of their matches, and went 8-2 overall, while Hungary went 31-6 in winning every match to repeat as gold medalists.
In 1936, he competed in 3 events, starting with the team foil, even though he specialized in sabre. In their opening pool, they defeated Norway 10-6, with Gerevich going 2-2, and that was enough to advance to the quarterfinal. In that round, they destroyed Yugoslavia 14-2, with Gerevich winning all 4 of his bouts. In the semifinal pool, they beat only 1 country, Austria, and failed to advance to the final, with Gerevich struggling to a 2-6 record, including 4 losses to eventual champion Italy.
In the team sabre, things were very different. In their opening pool, they beat Denmark 16-0, then Uruguay 14-2 in the quarterfinal, though Gerevich didn't participate in that round. In the semifinal, they won 44 out of 48 bouts, with Gerevich winning all 8 of his. They also dominated the final, going 32-10 overall, with only Italy making it close at 9-6. Gerevich won 5 of his 7 bouts as Hungary won the gold medal again.
He also competed in the individual sabre that year, for the first time. In the first 3 rounds of the tournament, Gerevich lost only a single match, winning 13, and made the final pool easily. There were 3 Hungarians in the final pool of 9, and those other 2 accounted for both of his losses in the final pool, and he ended up with the bronze medal after going 6-2.
World War II took out a huge chunk of his prime, but he was still a top fencer when they finally returned in 1948. He competed in the team foil again, and was the only Hungarian to go 4-0 in the first round. He went 3-1 in the next round, and it was just enough for them to advance in a tiebreaker over Uruguay. They lost both of their matches in the semifinal round, which left them out of the final.
In the team sabre, he was a perfect 7-0 in the first two rounds, and Hungary advanced to the final pool easily, as expected from the 3-time defending champs. The final pool was a little more challenging, and Gerevich went only 5-3 in his bouts, but they won all 3 matches to repeat as gold medalists for the 4th time in a row, and the 3rd for Gerevich.
He also competed again in the individual sabre, where he had won the bronze before the war. He was given a bye out of the first round due to his participation in the team final, then went 12-1 over the next two rounds to reach the final easily. In the final, he went a perfect 7-0 to win the gold medal, highlighted by a 5-4 victory over teammate Pal Kovacs, who had led 4-2 before Gerevich scored three straight touches to win his first individual gold.
He competed in the same 3 events in 1952, despite being over 40 years old. He went 12-4 through the first 2 rounds in the team foil, struggling only against Argentina, who gave them their only defeat in those rounds, but they still advanced to the semifinals. He went 3-1 against Belgium in the semifinals, which earned them a spot in the final pool for the first time in his career. In the final, they only managed to beat Egypt, with Gerevich going 6-6, the best of any Hungarian, but it was still enough to take the bronze medal.
In the team foil, they were huge favorites again. They lost only 2 bouts in the first round, 1 of them by Gerevich, but 30-2 is pretty solid. He wasn't needed in the quarterfinal round, then went 6-2 in the semifinal pool as Hungary again advanced to the final easily. In the final pool, he was perfect against France, but struggled against Italy, going 1-3, but Hungary was able to pull off the victory 8-7 to win gold again, the 4th straight for Gerevich.
He also competed in the individual sabre, trying to defend his gold medal. He won 10 of his 12 bouts on the way to the final pool, which seemed like a foregone conclusion, and he was joined by the other 2 Hungarians as well. This time, he won every match but one, against Kovacs, who took away his gold medal, leaving Gerevich with the silver, and the full rainbow of medals in that event.
He returned for his 5th Olympics in 1956, this time only competing in the sabre events. In the team event, they received a bye to the semifinals, where they won 9-1, with Gerevich going 3-0. In the final pool, Hungary was dominant, winning 30 out of 45 matches, and won the gold medal for the 6th time in a row, the 5th straight for Gerevich.
In the individual sabre, he easily made it back to the final for the 4th straight Olympics, where he had previously won one of each medal. This time, the final wouldn't go as well, as he only managed a 3-4 mark in that round, which was only good enough for 5th place, the first time he ever missed the podium in an individual event.
At the 1960 Olympic Trials, the committee told him that he was too old to make the team, so he challenged the entire team to individual matches, and he beat each and every one of them, which was enough to convince them to let the 50-year-old compete again in Rome.
In the team event, they won their pool easily to advance to the knockouts, which was a new feature that year. They were given a bye to the quarterfinals, where they beat Romania 9-3, though Gerevich only went 1-2 in that round. They faced Italy in the semifinal without him, and won 9-6 to reach the final. He again sat out the final against Poland, but watched as his teammates won 9-7, which earned him his 6th gold medal in the event, making him the first ever to achieve that.
In the individual sabre, he went 11-3 through the first 3 rounds, and made it all the way to the semifinals, but that would be where his journey ended. He finished 2-3 in that round, and missed out on advancing to the final pool on a tiebreaker, and his Olympic career was over.
There were 28 years between his first and last gold medals, and he was the first athlete ever to win gold in the same event 6 times in a row, a feat since matched by Diana Taurasi. Isabell Werth has now won 7 golds in the same event, but hers were not consecutive. With his longevity, his trio of individual medals, plus his 6 team golds, Gerevich is definitely one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
