Béla Mikla

Béla Mikla first competed in fencing in 1939 with BBTE. Mikla participated in all three weapons but was most successful in sabre and épée, winning the Hungarian championship in the latter In 1942.

World War II interrupted his career; he was sent to the Eastern Front and became a Russian POW, returning to Hungary only in the summer of 1947. After returning Mikla resumed training and qualified for the 1948 London Olympics as a Vasas fencer. The Hungarian épée team finished fifth; Mikla did not place individually.

In October 1948 Mikla won an international competition in Paris, but did not return to Hungary, defecting to Belgium instead. In retaliation his relatives in Hungary faced forced relocation, and Mikla was stripped of his citizenship.

He continued fencing in Belgium and represented the Hungarian National Sports Association in exile at three World Championships. In the sabre Mikla placed fifth in Stockholm (1951) and fourth in Brussels (1953), behind only the Hungarian greats Pál Kovács, Aladár Gerevich, and Rudolf Kárpáti. In 1957, at the Paris World Championships, he reached the finals but broke his collarbone in a fall during a tied bout with Pál Kovács. Despite his success the Hungarian press referred to him only as a Belgian fencer.

Mikla later moved to Italy and worked as a fencing coach.