Ferenc Török (Modern Pentathlon)

Ferenc Török (born August 3, 1935 in Budapest ) is a former Hungarian modern pentathlete who won Olympic gold medals in 1964 and 1968.

At the 1961 World Cup, Török moved to the Hungarian team for Olympic champion Ferenc Németh , and the team with András Balczó and Imre Nagy took second place behind the Soviet team. In 1962 the three pentathletes were again runner-up, Török took third place in the individual ranking. In 1963 at the World Championships in Magglingen Balczó won the individual standings before Török, together with István Móna the two were also team world champions. On the way home, the Hungarian customs found prohibited goods at Balczó and Móna. The Hungarian Association then banned both of them for the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. There the Hungarian team started with Ferenc Török, the experienced Imre Nagy and Ottó Török , Ottó was Ferenc's younger brother. Ferenc Török won gold in the individual standings, Nagy was seventh and Ottó Török came 26th, which means that the team won bronze just behind the Americans and just ahead of the Swedes, while the Soviet team won by a large margin. Ferenc Török was voted Hungarian Sportsman of the Year in 1964.

At the World Championships in Leipzig in 1965 Balczó and Móna were there again. In the individual competition, Balczó won, Török came third and the team became world champions together with Móna. 1966 in Melbourne repeated the result Trök was third, Balczó individual world champion and all three won the team world championship. In 1967 in Jönköping Balczó and the Hungarian team won for the fourth time in a row, in the individual competition Török was pushed out of the medal ranks by the young Swede Björn Ferm . At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, Balczó, Móna and Török were the clear favorites. They also won in Mexico City, where Török was only the third strongest Hungarian in twelfth place this time, while Balczó won only silver behind Ferm as best.

After the Olympic Games in 1968, the two PhDs Móna and Török ended their sporting careers, only Balczó continued his career and then won individual gold in 1972.

Ferenc Török was initially a judge in Budapest and later opened a law firm. From 1990 to 1994 he was a member of the Free Democrats in Parliament .

His son-in-law Péter Abay won Olympic silver in fencing in 1992.

literature

• Erich Kamper , Bill Mallon : Who's Who of the Olympic Games 1896–1992. Who's Who at the Olympics. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1992, ISBN 3-928562-47-9 .
• Volker Kluge : Summer Olympic Games. The Chronicle II. London 1948 - Tokyo 1964. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-328-00740-7 .

Web links

• Ferenc Török in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Team World Championships
• World championships