Paul Szabo

Paul Szabo competed for Romania in épée fencing at the 1976 Montréal Olympics. He was a Romanian Junior Champion and also competed at the 1973 Universiade. Szabo was an ethnic Hungarian and was sometimes excluded from Romanian training programs.

At the 1976 Olympics, Szabo contacted Geza Tatrallyay, a member of the Canadian team, and asked for help to defect to Canada. On the final day of the Games, Szabo packed his bags and walked out of the village, supposedly going sightseeing. He met Tatrallyay at his car, and Tatrallyay then went back into the village, retrieved Szabo’s bags, and then drove Szabo to his home in Ottawa.

Szabo sought immunity in Canada and found a job on a farm picking tobacco. He later attended York University in Toronto and became a clinical psychologist in Toronto.