Alfréd Hajós
Encyclopedia
Alfréd Hajós was a Hungarian
swimmer
and architect
. He was the first modern Olympic
swimming champion and the first Olympic champion of Hungary
.
, Hungary
, as Arnold Guttmann. He was 13 years old when he felt compelled to become a good swimmer after his father drowned in the Danube River. He took the name Hajós (sailor in Hungarian) for his athletic career because it was a Hungarian name.
In 1896, Hajós was an architecture student in Hungary when the Athens Games took place. He was allowed to compete, but permission from the university to miss class had not come easy. When he returned to the Dean of the Polytechnical University, the dean did not congratulate Hajós on his Olympic success, but instead said: "Your medals are of no interest to me, but I am eager to hear your replies in your next examination."
At the 1896 Games
, the swimming events were held in the Mediterranean Sea
battling the elements. The 18-year old Hajós won his two gold medal
s in extremely cold weather (the water temperature was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, or 10 degrees Celsius) with 12-foot (4 m) waves crashing down on him. He won the 100 metre freestyle with a time of 1:22.2, and the 1,200 metre freestyle in 18:22.2. Hajós wanted to win all three distances, but the 500 metre freestyle was immediately after the 100 and immediately before the 1,200. Before the 1,200 metre race, he smeared his body with a half-inch (one centimetre) thick layer of grease, but it proved to be of little protection against the cold. He confessed after winning the race that, "My will to live completely overcame my desire to win." While at a dinner honoring Olympic winners, the Crown Prince of Greece
asked Hajós where he had learned to swim so well. Hajós replied, "In the water." The next morning, the Athenian journal Acropolis depicted Alfréd with the subtitle: "Hungarian Dolphin". He was the youngest winner in Athens
.
Prior to the Athens Olympics, Hajós was the 100 metre freestyle European swimming champion in 1895 and 1896.
A versatile athlete, he won Hungary's 100 metre sprint championship in 1898, as well as the National 400 metre hurdles
and discus
titles. He also played forward on Hungary's national soccer championship teams of 1901, 1902, 1903 — and played in the first international match played by the Hungarian national team, against Austria in Vienna on 12 October 1902. Between 1897 and 1904 he was also a football referee, and during 1906 he was the coach of Hungary's national football team
.
In 1924, Hajós, an architect specializing in sport facilities, entered the art competitions at the Paris Olympic Games
. His plan for a stadium, devised together with Dezső Lauber
(who played tennis
in the 1908 Summer Olympics
), was awarded the silver medal; the jury did not award a gold medal in the competition.
The best known sports facility designed by Hajós is the swimming stadion built on Margitsziget (Margaret Island) in the Danube in Budapest, which was built in 1930, and used for the 1958, 2006 and 2010 European Aquatics Championships, and the 2006 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup
.
In 1953, the International Olympic Committee
awarded him the Olympic diploma of merit. He is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, and in 1981 he was also made a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
.
His brother, Henrik Hajós
, won gold medal in 4x250 m Freestyle swimming at 1906 Olympic Games
in Athens.
and eclectic
style, later he turned to modernism and was influenced by Italian styles.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
swimmer
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
and architect
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
. He was the first modern Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
swimming champion and the first Olympic champion of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
.
Biography
Hajós was born in BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, as Arnold Guttmann. He was 13 years old when he felt compelled to become a good swimmer after his father drowned in the Danube River. He took the name Hajós (sailor in Hungarian) for his athletic career because it was a Hungarian name.
In 1896, Hajós was an architecture student in Hungary when the Athens Games took place. He was allowed to compete, but permission from the university to miss class had not come easy. When he returned to the Dean of the Polytechnical University, the dean did not congratulate Hajós on his Olympic success, but instead said: "Your medals are of no interest to me, but I am eager to hear your replies in your next examination."
At the 1896 Games
1896 Summer Olympics
The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era...
, the swimming events were held in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
battling the elements. The 18-year old Hajós won his two gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
s in extremely cold weather (the water temperature was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, or 10 degrees Celsius) with 12-foot (4 m) waves crashing down on him. He won the 100 metre freestyle with a time of 1:22.2, and the 1,200 metre freestyle in 18:22.2. Hajós wanted to win all three distances, but the 500 metre freestyle was immediately after the 100 and immediately before the 1,200. Before the 1,200 metre race, he smeared his body with a half-inch (one centimetre) thick layer of grease, but it proved to be of little protection against the cold. He confessed after winning the race that, "My will to live completely overcame my desire to win." While at a dinner honoring Olympic winners, the Crown Prince of Greece
Constantine I of Greece
Constantine I was King of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army during the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and led the Greek forces during the successful Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, in which Greece won Thessaloniki and doubled in...
asked Hajós where he had learned to swim so well. Hajós replied, "In the water." The next morning, the Athenian journal Acropolis depicted Alfréd with the subtitle: "Hungarian Dolphin". He was the youngest winner in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
.
Prior to the Athens Olympics, Hajós was the 100 metre freestyle European swimming champion in 1895 and 1896.
A versatile athlete, he won Hungary's 100 metre sprint championship in 1898, as well as the National 400 metre hurdles
Hurdling
Hurdling is a type of track and field race.- Distances :There are sprint hurdle races and long hurdle races. The standard sprint hurdle race is 110 meters for men and 100 meters for women. The standard long hurdle race is 400 meters for both men and women...
and discus
Discus throw
The discus throw is an event in track and field athletics competition, in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than his or her competitors. It is an ancient sport, as evidenced by the 5th century BC Myron statue, Discobolus...
titles. He also played forward on Hungary's national soccer championship teams of 1901, 1902, 1903 — and played in the first international match played by the Hungarian national team, against Austria in Vienna on 12 October 1902. Between 1897 and 1904 he was also a football referee, and during 1906 he was the coach of Hungary's national football team
Hungary national football team
The Hungary national football team represents Hungary in international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation....
.
In 1924, Hajós, an architect specializing in sport facilities, entered the art competitions at the Paris Olympic Games
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...
. His plan for a stadium, devised together with Dezső Lauber
Dezso Lauber
Dezső Lauber was a Hungarian all-round sportsman and architect.He was born in Pécs and died in Budapest....
(who played tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
in the 1908 Summer Olympics
1908 Summer Olympics
The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...
), was awarded the silver medal; the jury did not award a gold medal in the competition.
The best known sports facility designed by Hajós is the swimming stadion built on Margitsziget (Margaret Island) in the Danube in Budapest, which was built in 1930, and used for the 1958, 2006 and 2010 European Aquatics Championships, and the 2006 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup
2006 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup
The 13th edition of the FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup was held in the Alfréd Hajós Swimming Pool on Margitsziget in Budapest, Hungary from June 13 to June 18, 2006.-Teams:-=*Goran Volarević*Damir Burić*Boris Pavlović...
.
In 1953, the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
awarded him the Olympic diploma of merit. He is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, and in 1981 he was also made a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame was opened July 7, 1981, in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around the world....
.
His brother, Henrik Hajós
Henrik Hajós
Henrik Hajós was a Hungarian freestyle swimmer who competed in the 1906 Summer Olympics and in the 1908 Summer Olympics.He was born and died in Budapest and was the younger brother of Alfréd Hajós....
, won gold medal in 4x250 m Freestyle swimming at 1906 Olympic Games
1906 Summer Olympics
The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games in Athens" by the International Olympic Committee...
in Athens.
Buildings designed by him
His first designs were in Art NouveauArt Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
and eclectic
Eclecticism
Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...
style, later he turned to modernism and was influenced by Italian styles.
- Hotel Aranybika, DebrecenDebrecenDebrecen , is the second largest city in Hungary after Budapest. Debrecen is the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar county.- Name :...
- Lőcsey High School, Debrecen
- Protestant Church Centre, Budapest
- Újpest FC'sÚjpest FCÚjpest Football Club , earlier known as Újpesti TE and Újpesti Dózsa, is a Hungarian football club, based in Újpest, Budapest. The club's colours are purple and white...
UTE StadiumSzusza Ferenc StadiumSzusza Ferenc Stadium is a football stadium in Újpest and the home of Újpest FC. The stadium was designed by Alfréd Hajós and opened on 17 September 1922...
, ÚjpestÚjpestÚjpest may refer to:*Újpest, a district of Budapest, Hungary.*Újpest FC, a football team based in Újpest....
, Megyeri ut (1922) - Swimming Stadium, Budapest, Margitsziget (today it bears his name)
- Millenáris Sportpálya, Budapest XIV
- Sports ground, MiskolcMiskolcMiskolc is a city in northeastern Hungary, mainly with heavy industrial background. With a population close to 170,000 Miskolc is the fourth largest city of Hungary It is also the county capital of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and the regional centre of Northern Hungary.- Geography :Miskolc is located...
- Sports ground, PápaPápaPápa is a historical city in Veszprém county, Hungary, located close to the northern edge of the Bakony Hills, and noted for its baroque architecture. With its 33,000 inhabitants, it is the cultural, economic and tourism centre of the region....
- Sports ground, SzegedSzeged' is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county town of Csongrád county. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary....
- Sports ground, Kaposvár
- Girls' School, Pozsony
- Népkert Vigadó, Miskolc, Népkert
- Swimbath, Szeged (Ligetfürdő, 1930)