Dr. Szabó Lajos: Nők a magyar sportban (A Sportmúzeum Kincsei 3. Budapest, 2003)

TECHNICAL SPORTS Technical sports emerged in the late 19th century and characterized the entire 20 century. As a form of amusement, fencing, shooting and archery had already been available for the daughters of wealthy burgher families in earlier centuries. The pursuing of such activities, however, took quite some personal ambition since women and young ladies involved in such sports were often considered eccentric personalities. At the end of the 19th century, the bicycle became a common means of transportation and so did the automobile in the decades that followed. Yet female racers were not a common sight until the I920's. Hungary had to wait for the first outstanding result in cycling until the Sydney Games in 2000, where Szilvia Szabolcsi achieved the 5th position. Women's shooting in Hungary has been closely related to the slogan that characterized our history throughout centuries: "Sport is always equal to the defense of the homeland": Although under a flag of a "different color", that was true in the I950's as well. The vivid sports club life (shooting, parachuting, sports flying, gliding, aircraft modeling) within the Hungarian Defense Association (MHSZ) provided an opportunity for young women to pursue such sports - naturally, they always had to make a much higher grade to gain recognition. In women's shooting, Hungarians usually delivered fairly good average results (Eva Fórián, Eva Joó), yet the first Olympic gold for Hungary was only won in 2000 by skeet shooter Diana Igaly. Archery and most recently cross-bow archery are also popular among Hungarian sports women. This popularity is well illustrated by our prestigious results at European championships and cups won by e.g. Ágota Lénárt. The I990's brought about a boom for women's pentathlon in Hungary. The great success record that we have in men's pentathlon (with plenty of Olympic gold medals and world championship titles) has provided an outstanding professional background for our female pentathletes, too. Women's pentathlon was already an Olympic sport in 2000 and our female pentathletes (Zsuzsa Vörös, Bea and Nóra Simóka) will hopefully reach similarly great results as their male counterparts, reinforcing the traditional fame of Hungary's pentathlon sport.