László Szekfű

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameLászló György•Szegfy (-Szekfű)
Used nameLászló•Szekfű
Other namesLászló Szegfi
Born16 November 1905 in Németlad, Somogy (HUN)
Died17 December 1977 in Kaposvár, Somogy (HUN)
AffiliationsKaposvári Turul Sportegyesület
NOC Hungary

Biography

László Szekfű was 12 years old when his family moved to Kaposvár. At the age of 16, his father apprenticed him to a locksmith. The young boy did not like the job, so he told his parents that he wanted a profession where there was no need to starve.With parental consent he studied to be a butcher. One of his teachers, Gyula Gera, was already known for wrestling and invited him to wrestling training. He became the champion of Kaposvár at the age of 18 in 1923 while with the Turul SE club. In 1930, he won the Hungarian championship title in bantamweight and, in the same year, he took a bronze medal at the European Championships in Stockholm. In 1932, he participated in the Los Angeles Olympics but was eliminated after losing his first two bouts. The following year he won his third Hungarian championship title and then stopped wrestling. For the rest of his life, he worked for his other great love, boxing, as a coach. He made the boxing division of Kaposvári Dózsa one of the most successful of the country. Thanks to his work, he received the title of master coach. As a sports manager, he was the president of the Somogy County Boxing Association. He retired at the age of 68.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1932 Summer Olympics Wrestling HUN László Szekfű
Bantamweight, Greco-Roman, Men (Olympic) AC