The link between the Olympics and the Paralympics is he: the former Hungarian fencer Pal Szekeres, 59 years old. He was elected as a member of the European Parliament in June, under the colours of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party – Fidesz – and, as such, a member of the parliamentary group Patriots for Europe, chaired by the Frenchman Jordan Bardella. But before embarking on a political career, Pal Szekeres had written his name in the history of sport by becoming the first athlete to win a medal at both the Olympics and the Paralympics.
It is difficult to use the word feat to describe this performance, which could not have happened without a traffic accident in Germany in 1991, which deprived Pal Szekeres of the use of his legs. No other disabled athlete has achieved such a double, as the only ones who can boast of being on the podium in both competitions did so at the Paralympic Games as – able-bodied – guides for visually impaired cyclists: Britain’s Craig McLean and France’s François Pervis.
In the 1980s, Pal Szekeres was one of the world’s best foilers. He was supposed to have competed in his first Olympic Games in 1984 in Los Angeles, but the communist bloc’s boycott decided otherwise. The eastern countries played a parallel competition and Pal Szekeres, together with Hungary, took second place in the team foil tournament. “In Hungary we consider this an Olympic medal in its own right”says Pal Szekeres, meeting in May in Budapest.
European champion seven months after his accident
To reach a real Olympic podium, he would have to wait until 1988 and the Seoul Games, where Hungary came third in the team tournament. That year, Pal Szekeres also won the Paris International Challenge, one of the most famous foil tournaments in the world. A victory marked by a setback: the tournament was delayed, the Hungarian delegation had to leave without even waiting for the medal ceremony and without knowing that the winner of the day was expected to undergo doping control. “It seemed like a scandal but it wasn’t.”says Pal Szekeres today.
Three years later, at the age of 26, after an accident while travelling on board a minibus carrying the national team, the fencer knew that he would never be able to walk again. Seven months after his accident, he became European champion in wheelchair fencing. In 1992, he won the foil title at the Barcelona Paralympic Games and even managed the foil-sabre double in Atlanta in 1996. He would go on to win medals at the following three Paralympic Games, before retiring in 2012, after the London Games: “It was time to stop: I was old and slow”says.
The Hungarian has been president of the International Wheelchair Fencing Federation since 2016 and is now seeking a third term. “We have the same problem as valid fencing: Europe and Asia are very active, but we are not sufficiently present in Africa and Oceania.judge. There is competition between sports in the Paralympic family and to secure our place we need to develop wheelchair fencing in more countries. »
Pal Szekeres was also involved in promoting sports for disabled people in Hungary, especially between 1999 and 2005, when he served as Undersecretary of State to the Minister of Youth and Sports. The issue of inclusion of people with disabilities has found a new ambassador in the European Parliament.
