It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of four-time Olympic and three-time world épée champion Győző Kulcsár of Hungary on September 19, 2018. Born on October 18, 1940 in Budapest, Győző Kulcsár started fencing at the age of 15. He was a member of the FIE Hall of Fame.
Győző Kulcsár was one of the most famous Hungarian athletes, who did not only excel as a fencer, but has also been one of the finest coaches in Hungary - his career had been longer than half a century: 52 years.
He won team gold at the 1964 (Tokyo), 1968 (Mexico City), and 1972 (Munich) Olympic Games; he also earned an individual gold medal in 1968 (Mexico City) as well as two bronzes (Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976).
Győző Kulcsár earned an engineering degree in 1968, but focused the majority of his life on fencing. After finishing his competitive career, he was the Secretary General of the Hungarian Fencing Federation between 1979 and 1980. He was also Member and later Board member of the Hungarian Olympic Committee.
In 1988 he moved to Italy and worked as a fencing master in Vercelli, where he trained Olympic and World Champions like Maurizio Randazzo, Paolo Milanoli and Elisa Uga.
He moved back to Hungary in 2001 and he became the master of several fencers that later became Olympic and World Champions. He was also the head coach of the Hungarian National é
pée team from 2006 to 2012.
Among others he trained Tímea Nagy, Krisztián Kulcsár and Gábor Boczkó. The last champion of his career was Emese Szász, who took the gold medal at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.
Besides the number of merits and awards, Győző Kulcsár was also elected to join the Association of Immortal Hungarian Athletes, a very illustrious company which consists of 21 sportsmen, in 2000. In 2004, he was elected among the sportsmen of the nation, while in 2010, he was awarded the Hungarian Order of Merit, Commander’s Cross.
We would like to extend our most sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to the Hungarian Fencing Federation.