Ignác Berecz

From 1936 to 1938 Ignác Berecz was a student at the Hungarian Royal Sports Teacher and Fencing Master Training Institute (SPOTI) where he earned a ski and fencing coach certificate and worked as an assistant instructor from 1938 to 1944. Berecz also competed in ski competitions for the Postás SE and the HTSE. During this time he won four individual and one team championship titles. In the spring of 1945 he was captured by the Soviets, but managed to escape. Upon returning home he continued to compete and won one more individual and two team championship titles as a skier for Előre SE, VL Keltex, and Diósgyőri Mávag. Berecz was a member of the Hungarian national team between 1940 and 1952, and at the age of almost 40, he participated in the 1952 Oslo Olympics, where he finished 31st in the 50km cross-country race.

Berecz retired from the Army in 1949 and settled in Miskolc. After finishing his sports career, he worked as a coach for Diósgyőri Mávag, DVTK, and H. Papp József SE from 1955.

In 1968 the cross-country and biathlon branches of the Miskolc Honvéd Sports Association were founded under his leadership, where he also performed coaching duties. Thanks to his work, three Miskolc competitors (László Palácsik, János Spisák and József Lihi) were members of the Hungarian biathlon team at the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo.