[Unicum] Fwd: Spoiler Alert: Hungary Olympic Update for 8/7!

Lots of activity today as predicted! Here is an update from 8/7:

4 2 3 A Flurry of Activity as Hungary is poised for more medals! Updated 8/7/2012: Stay up to date and read more about our proud Olympic history at the "Hungarian Olympic Triumph Pages" at: http://www.americanhungarianfederation.org/FamousHungarians/olympic_2012.htm Official Medal Count: 9 Hungary now ranks #10 in total Gold Medals (Not including medals by Hungarians competing for other countries) All London 2012 Hungarian Medals! (including Hungarians competing for other countries) Medal Name Event Krisztian Pars Hammer Throw Krisztian Berki Gymnastics: Pommel Horse Aron Szilagyi Men's Sabre Daniel Gyurta Swimming: 200m Breaststroke WR! Rebecca Soni (Szőnyi) Swimming: 200m Breaststroke WR! Susan (Zsuzsanna) Francia Women's Rowing 8 Miklos Ungvari Men's Judo - 66Kg Tamas Lorincz Wrestling: 66kg Greco-Roman Eva Csernowiczki Women's Judo Laszlo Cseh Swimming: 200m individual Peter Modos Wrestling: 55kg Greco-Roman 2012 London Highlights Updates from 8/7/2012 For a full list of Athletes competing on 8/8, [click here] Wrestling: Tamás Lőrincz wins Sliver in the Men's 66kg Greco-Roman! His opponent, Kim Hyeonwoo, whose eye was badly bruised and swollen, became the first Republic of Korea athlete to win gold in the lightweight event. Water Polo: Water Reigning Olympic (and nine-time Gold Medalists) Men's Water Polo champions Hungary kept their dream of a record-breaking fourth consecutive gold medal alive by routing a strong United States squad 11-6 on Monday, August 6th. Hungary, who has regained its championship form, will now face World Champion Italy who beat Spain 10-7 on August 8th (my son's birthday!). The US will face Group A winner Croatia. Hungarian Women's Water Polo loses to Spain 10-9 in a thrilling game that came down to the wire. The women's team reached the semi-finals by beating a strong Russian team 11-10 in another thrilling encounter. A tense fourth period was edged by Hungary, but Spain hung on to win by one goal. Anni Espar netted four for Spain, as Roser Tarrago and Maria del Pilar Pena scored twice. The Hungarians will play Australia for the bronze medal on Thursday. While the Hungarian men are the most successful Olympic water polo team ever, the women have never made it to the podium in the event's 12-year existence, narrowly missing out on the bronze in 2008. Spain will now take on team USA in the Gold Medal championship match. Hungarian Men's Handball emerged victorious from their winner-takes-all battle with Serbia to progress to the quarterfinals with a 26-23 win! Hungary will now face reigning Silver Medallists Iceland on August 8th. Yet another Plethora of Hungarians yield High Expectations in the Kayak / Canoe Finals! In the men's C1 1000m, the man to beat will be Hungary's Olympic champion Attila Vajda. After winning gold at Beijing 2008, the 29-year-old was named the Hungarian sportsman of the year and his success has continued after winning the World Championships last year. Attila qualified for the finals posting the second best time. He is also representing Hungary in the Canoe Single (C1) 200m heats on Friday, August 10th. Attila Vajda has competed since the early 2000s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he has won two medals in the C-1 1000m event with a gold in 2008 and a bronze in 2004. In the men's Kayak Fours (K4) 1000m, Olympic kayak legend and multiple Gold Medalist Zoltan Kammerer and his Hungarian team (David Toth, Tamas Kulifai, and Daniel Pauman) qualified for the final with the fastest time. Close behind was Slovakia featuring Hungarians Juraj (György) Tarr and Peter Gelle who also reached the finals in Kayak Double (K2) 1000m competition. The finals take place on August 9th. Zoltan Kammerer longevity is astounding. He started competing in the 1990's and won three Gold Medals at the World Championships, the first in 1997. Since then, he has competed in four previous Summer Olympics and won three gold medals (K-2 500 m: 2000, K-4 1000 m: 2000, and 2004). At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Kammerer carried the Hungarian flag at the opening ceremonies. This was initially planned to be given to his fellow canoer György Kolonics who had died a month before the Games. In the men's Kayak Double (K2) 1000m, the team of Rudolf Dombi and Roland Kokeny will be representing Hungary while Peter Gelle will be representing Slovakia in the finals on August 8th. The women's K4 500m semi-finals were dominated by the Germans and Hungarians as both teams were first to qualify for the final! Katalin Kovacs, Gabriella Szabo, Danuta Kozak, and Krisztina Fazekas will race for Gold in Lane 5 on August 8th! In the women's Kayak Double (K2) 500m semi-finals, Hungary's duo of Katalin Kovacs and Natasa Janics posted the second-best time in qualifying. The finals are scheduled for August 9th. In the women's Kayak Single (K1) 500m, Danuta Kozak posted the fastest qualifying time to reach the finals and will race for Gold on August 9th. The women's Kayak Single (K1) 200m qualifying heats are scheduled for August 10th. Hungary will be represented by Natasa Janics. The Men's Kayak Single (K1) 200m heats begin on August 10th with Miklos Dudas representing Hungary. Medals and More: Krisztian Pars claims Hammerthrow Gold! Hungary's Krisztian Pars produced a best effort of 80.59m to claim gold in the men's Hammer Throw competition on August 5th! Pars, 30, won gold in the European Championships last month and won European bronze in 2010 and a silver in the World Championship. Pars placed fourth at Beijing four years ago, but was promoted to second place when the two Belarusian throwers who finished in front of him were disqualified for failing doping controls. More than 18 months later, Pars and Murofushi, who had been elevated to silver and bronze medal positions, lost their medals when the Court of Arbitration for Sport reinstated Vadim Devyatovskiy and Ivan Tsikhan's results from Beijing. The CAS said the doping tests were invalid because international laboratory standards were not respected in what it said was an "unusually complex doping case.""This is a revenge for what happened at the Beijing Olympics," Pars said. "Yes, it is a bit of a compensation for the silver I didn't receive there. I feel life has given something back to me, something which eluded me four years ago." Krisztian Berki takes Pommel Horse Gold! Hungarian double world champion Krisztian Berki broke British hearts as he dramatically snatched the Olympic pommel horse gold medal on August 5th and edged out Louis Smith on a tie-break with the execution score. His routine was greeted by "big contingent of flag-waving Hungarian fans." Peter Modos wins Bronze in Wrestling Peter Modos won the 55-kg bronze medal match in Greco-Roman wrestling. He was so excited by his unexpected victory, Luke Meredith from the Associated Press tweeted: "Hungarian wrestler Peter Modos certainly isn't sneezing at a bronze medal. After beating Denmark's Erik Nybloom to win a bronze out of the 55-kilogram consolation bracket, Modos ran over and jumped so high into his coach's arms that his torso nearly smacked his coach's shoulder. Modos then ran across the mat and did a cartwheel, which he followed with a succession of backflips. He also hugged Nybloom, who understandably wasn't all that into it. Szilagyi claims Hungary's first gold Hungary's incredible Olympic Games record in men's Sabre Fencing continued as 22-year-old Aron Szilagyi grabbed their first gold of London 2012. It was the 13th time a Hungarian has triumphed in the event - and that includes an amazing run of 11 out of 12 victories between 1908 and 1964. Szilagyi is the only Hungarian fencer in the world's top 50 - he is ranked sixth - and was the country's only representative in the 36-strong field. Hungarians Set TWO WORLD RECORDS! Daniel Gyurta claims gold in record time! Hungary's Daniel Gyurta set a new world record in the men's 200m Breaststroke final to hold off Japan's Double Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima and Great Britain's Michael Jamieson for the gold medal. Hungarian-American Rebecca Soni claims Gold and smashes her own World Record! Hungarian-American Rebecca Soni (Szőnyi) set the second world record in the 200m Breaststroke semis. She also won gold and set the World Record in the 2008 Beijing Olympics where she also took home 2 Silver Medals in the 100m breaststroke and the 4x100m medley relay. Soni reclaimed the world record semifinal breaststroke heat. Known to her family and friends as "Reb" and born in Freehold Borough, New Jersey, Rebecca is the daughter of Peter and Kinga Soni from Kolozsvár (now a part of Rumania after annexation at the tragic Treaty of Trianon in 1920)! AHF CONGRATULATED REBECCA on behalf of the community! Laszlo Cseh takes bronze behind Ryan Lochte who took Silver and the legendary Michael Phelps who won the men's 200m individual Gold Medal - his record setting 16th Gold! Phelps became the first man in Olympic history to win Gold in the same event in three Olympics! Hungarians take silver and bronze in Judo Lashas Shavdatuashvili claimed gold in the men's -66kg Judo competition for Georgia with a narrow win over Hungarian Miklos Ungvari. In the women's competition, Eva Csernowiczki beat two-time world silver medallist Tomoko Fukumi to take the bronze medal. Susan (Zsuzsanna) Francia claims second consecutive Gold in Women's Rowing 8 for the United States! She won her first gold in Beijing 2008 and won Gold Medals in 5 out of 6 consecutive Rowing World Championships and claimed 2 more consecutive Gold Medals in the World Cup. Susan was born November 8, 1982 in Szeged, Hungary. She moved to the US at the age of 6 and grew up in Abington, Pennsylvania. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004 with a degree in Criminology and Sociology. She currently resides in Princeton, New Jersey and is affiliated with the US Rowing Training Center. She is fluent in Hungarian. Jozef (József) Gönci, who won independent Slovakia's first ever Olympic Medal in Atlanta 1994 (a bronze) and won another bronze in Athens 2004, was Slovakia's Flag Bearer in London 2012.

 

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