Pál Kovács

The native form of this personal name is Kovács Pál. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Pál Kovács (17 July 1912 – 8 July 1995) was a Hungarian athlete, who began as a hurdler, but eventually switched to fencing.

Pál Kovács
Hungarian sabre team at the 1960 Olympics, Kovács is in the center, just above Aladár Gerevich
Personal information
Born	(1912-07-17)17 July 1912 Debrecen, Hungary
Died	8 July 1995(1995-07-08) (aged 82) Budapest, Hungary
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	80 kg (176 lb)
Sport
Weapon	sabre
Hand	right-handed
Club	Honvéd Tiszti Vívó Klub ÖT Ganz-Mávag SportegyesületMávag SportegyesületVasas Sport Club
Medal record Representing  Hungary Olympic Games 1936 Berlin Team sabre 1948 London Team sabre 1952 Helsinki Team sabre 1952 Helsinki Individual sabre 1956 Melbourne Team sabre 1960 Rome Team Sabre 1948 London Individual sabre World Championships 1933 Budapest Team sabre 1937 Paris Team sabre 1951 Stockholm Team sabre 1953 Brussels Team sabre 1954 Luxembourg Team sabre 1955 Rome Team sabre 1957 Paris Team sabre 1958 Philadelphia Team sabre

By the time Kovács 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, lasting from 1936 until 1960. The same team won gold eight back-to-back world championships (including the two Olympics, which double as world championships in their respective years). Kovács also won individual gold in 1952, as well as individual bronze in 1948. In 1980, he became vice-president of the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime. He died in Budapest in July 1995.^[1]

See also

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists in one event
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists