István Bérczi

István Bérczi began his sports career in 1958 as a gymnast. In 1967 he was chosen gymnast of the year in Hungary, and in 1968 won the Hungarian championship on pommeled horse, which was his favorite apparatus. However, he was unable to attend the 1968 Olympics due to injury. He also finished fourth on pommeled horse at the 1971 European Championships. At the 1972 München Olympics, he finished eighth as a member of the Hungarian team, and he wanted to compete again at Montréal but was unable to due to an unfortunate accident.

After his gymnastics career, Bérczi worked as a coach, but it was not long-term and he became a transport engineer, in which he had been educated and trained. In addition, starting from 1975, Bérczi regularly appeared on Hungarian television as a gymnast.

However, Bérczi longed to return to the world of professional gymnasts, and in 1985 he took an international judging exam, and two years later was an international judge at the 1987 World Gymnastics Championships. From 1988 to 2016, he officiated at eight Olympics, but after the 2016 Rio Olympics, he worked only at domestic competitions.