On the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday, the Olympic, world and European champion wrestler, former president of the Hungarian federation, Csaba Hegedüs, was presented with golden shoes at the Kozma István Hungarian Wrestling Academy.
Hungary's hundredth Olympic champion was greeted on Wednesday by, among others, Szilárd Németh, president of the Hungarian Federation (MBSZ), Zsanibek Abdrasov, Kazakhstan's ambassador to Hungary, and László Fábián, secretary general of the Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB).
"Such great ones show the way, the goal, the method that must be grasped. I was also able to meet Csaba as an athlete, as a highly charismatic sports leader, national team captain, and president, and I was impressed by the confidence, determination and regularity that characterized the management of the association under his management."
said László Fábián. He added that he helped him a lot as a novice sports manager, because he always welcomed him with an open mind, so he wants to be a "worthy follower of the teaching", and then handed over his gift to the celebrated person.
"Your success is characterized by your talent and your carefully planned life philosophy. You subordinated everything to being able to bring out the talent in yourself, to be able to represent others, to be able to build a community, and you put it this way: what are we looking for here on the carpet, what would we be looking for here, we want to win", stressed Szilárd Németh.
He added, "I had many adventures with Csaba, but the biggest one was when we decided that we wanted to keep wrestling on the Olympic program, which was a particularly successful project."
Csaba Hegedüs, Olympic champion wrestler, coach and sports leader, cuts the festive cake at the celebration organized on the occasion of his 75th birthday in Csepel, at the Kozma István Hungarian Wrestling Academy on September 6, 2023. Csaba Hegedüs, aka Mr. Tus, won the 100th Olympic gold medal of Hungarian sport in the 1972 Munich Olympics. From the left, the golden wrestling shoes received as a gift. MTI/Tamás Kovács
He emphasized the motivational abilities of Csaba Hegedüs, which he had witnessed two days ago at the academy. Then he convinced a 17-year-old wrestler not to waste his talent. Afterwards, Szilárd Németh read out and then handed over a certificate of honor sent to Csaba Hegedüs by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The gift-giving did not end there, as representatives of MBSZ and KIMBA gave a statue depicting a golden shoe to the former president, who then thanked those present for their love and support.
"The essence of my life is here in this room, in the room that has become my second home for the third year," he said, referring to the establishment of the sports school system named after Mr. Tus, which created the foundations of today's KIMBA.
"Thanks to wrestling, even today at the age of 75, I get up with goals that I don't want to achieve, but I say in my faith and soul that I will do it," he said, adding that they work every day to overcome the world, and for that you don't have to do anything else, "just get tired every day".
Hegedüs also recalled that he was asked to be the competition director at two Olympics, the 2008 Beijing and the 2012 London Games, where he worked with Sebastian Coe, the current president of the International Athletics Federation.
"I am still capable of doing very serious things for the Hungarian wrestling sport, for the Hungarian nation, and if I cannot get up from the mat with the help of my friend Ferenc Bacsa's hand, then I will be able to raise my hand and say that the moment has come when this must be finished"
- He told.
At the ceremony, a short film about the career of the "Tuskirály" was shown, recalling the 1972 Munich five-hoop games, his world championship title, the difficult times after his car accident, as well as his two European championship titles and subsequent successes as a coach.
MTI
