Károly Kárpáti

Károly Kárpáti was born as Károly Kellner but adopted the more Hungarian name Kárpáti. On his doctor’s advice he took up sports, especially swimming and diving, although he soon switched to wrestling. At the 1928 Olympics he was fourth in featherweight Greco-Roman style. Four years later he won the silver medal in lightweight freestyle and finally in 1936 won gold in the same event. Kárpáti was European Champion in 1930 and 1935 in freestyle, adding a Greco silver in 1927, Greco bronze in 1930, and a freestyle bronze in 1934.

Kárpáti won his first Hungarian National Junior title in 1925 and subsequently won 10 Hungarian titles. Starting in Greco-Roman he developed an interest in freestyle during the 1928 Olympics and become the country’s first successful freestyle wrestler. Winning the Olympic gold medal in 1936 as a Jew, especially against the Aryan Wolfgang Ehrl, caused considerable discord among the Nazi leaders. During World War II he survived the labor camps in Hungary. He later managed to hide in the woods around Pest.

In 1937 Kárpáti received his teaching diploma for high school physical education. From 1950-67 he was Hungarian national coach. From 1945 until his death he was also a member of the Hungarian Olympic Committee. In 1954 Kárpáti was appointed an international wrestling judge. He also wrote a number of textbooks on wrestling and published his autobiography in 1985. In 1981 he was awarded the Olympic Order in Bronze and in 1996 the Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit.