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

ATHLETICS The first milestone in the history of Hungarian athletics was the year 1875 which marks the foundation of the first modern athletics club, MAC (Hungarian Athletics Club). The prestigious international tournament organized to honor the establishment of the club can be considered the first unofficial European athletics championship. Needles to say, women athletes were ..unwanted" personnel at the time, since there were fierce debates until as late as 1928 whether athletics should be recommended or allowed for women. IOC president Pierre de Coubertin was against women's athletics himself. It was not by chance that women's athletics were added to the Olympic program (1928, Amsterdam) right after his resignation (1925). Even an international female sports organization was established to ensure the equal treatment of women's athletics (chaired by France's Alice Milliat). That body organized the first world tournament for female athletes in Monaco in 1921. Athletic exercises gained an increasingly important role in physical education at schools and thus more and more young women got introduced to the various forms of athletic running, jumping and throwing. The first Hungarian championships and internationally recognized results date back to the I930's. As a true all-round athlete, Anna Kael competed in various events at the world tournament in 1930. Then Katalin Vértessy set a Hungarian record in hurdles run in 1934 and high jumper Ibolya Csák harvested the first female Olympic gold in athletics for Hungary in 1936 (162 cm.) After World War II, female athletics gained equal rights and even exclusively male-dominated events like the marathon, triple jump, paul-vault and hammer throwing have been open for women lately. Hungary's two Olympic champion's title in female athletics after WWII were won by Olga Gyarmati (long jump, 1948) and Angéla Németh (javelin, 1968). The first world champion title was delivered by Rita Ináncsi in heptathlon (1995). Then a dream limit was broken in 2000 when high jumper Dóra Gyó'rffy set the new national record to 2 meters. Like all around the world, street run races for women (Avon, Libresse) attract more and more participants from all age groups in Hungary, too. Women's orienteering needs to be mentioned her as well. Interestingly, both of our world champions, Sarolta Monspart (1972) and Katalin Oláh (1991) won their gold medals at the same location, in the Czech town of Stare Splavy.