Aczel, Olga Gyarmati

Background on Olga Gyarmati Aczel

Born in Debrecen on October 5, 1924, Olga Gyarmati became one of the most successful and popular athletes in post-war Hungary. A multi-talented sprinter and jumper, Gyarmati won 24 Hungarian titles in individual events (100m in 1941, 1949, and 1951; 200m in 1951-1952; 80m hurdles in 1948, 1949, 1951-1955); high jump in 1942 and 1949; long jump in 1948-1949, 1951-1956; and pentathlon 1950 and 1955), four titles in relay events, and she set 23 national records in six different events. On the international level, she won World University Games titles in long jump (1949) and 200 metres (1951), adding four silvers and two bronzes.

The pinnacle of Gyarmati’s athletic success, however, came in the Olympics. Between 1948 and 1956, she represented her country three times in four events: the 100 and 200 meter dash, the long jump, and high jump. Going into the London games in 1948, Gyarmati was expected to do well in the sprint events, but was a decided underdog to world recorder holder Fanny Blankers-Koen in the long jump. After Blankers-Koen withdrew from long jump — the first-ever Olympic women’s long jump competition — Gyarmati emerged as the surprise winner, jumping 5.695 meters. She was only the second Hungarian woman to win Olympic gold in track and field.

After marrying the renowned writer Tamas Aczel (his second marriage) and competing in the 1956 Olympics, Gyarmati and her husband fled during the Hungarian Revolution, settling firsty in England and later in the United States. Tamas Aczel joined the faculty at UMass Amherst in 1966. Tamas died in 1994, with Olga following on October 27, 2013.