The History of Hungarian Sport [antikvár]

Beforc v\c look back over the centurics at the history of Hungárián sport, we might well quote the words of two of the most distinguished Presidents of the International Olympic Committee. In 1896. Báron Pierre de Coubertin told the Hungárián member of the IOC. Dr. Ferenc Kemény. "Your country's physical culture and love of sport would merit the honour of organizing the first Olympic Games". That was said at the time when the founder of the Modern Olympics. confronted by the possible withdrawal of Greece as the host country, asked Hungary if it would take the initiative and organize the first Games. It seemed that financial crisis would compel Greece to withdraw. However. the Hungárián authorities did not respond and, eventually. Modern Olympic history did begin in Athens, 1896. When Lord Killanin, President of the then International Olympic Committee. came to Hungary in the summer of 1979 he explained that he had felt compelled to make such a visit. "I had to come to this country, admired by the whole world as a source of outstanding sporting achievements, where over many decades so many champions have been raised. and where the great love of sport is an example to all." The statements by two of the most eminent leaders of the Olympic movement were separated by just fifteen years short of a full century. Lord Killanin's remarks show that the intervening years did not diminish but rather increased the prestige of Hungárián sport. From the very earliest times the life of the Hungárián people was linked with those essential activities that centuries later would evolve into sport. Without their outstanding horsemanship. their skills in handling their bows. swords and sabres, their speed and endurance, their strength and agiiity in wrestling, the ancient Hungarians could never have survived the long centuries of migration and marauding. The Hungárián martial arts were cited by the Byzantine Emperor Leo the Wise. In Tactica. his treatise on military tactics at the end of the ninth century. the Emperor called on the Greeks to emulate the Hungarians in the The Prehistory of Hungárián Sport