Kálmán Blahó

Before the Second World War Kálmán Blahó was a lieutenant of the Budapest Pilot Office and a passionate kayaker. Between 1940 and 1954, as a competitor of the Elektromos, he won a total of 19 Hungarian championship titles in various boat classes in kayak and canoe. At the 1948 London Olympics he started along with János Urányi in the 1,000-meter kayak race, but unfortunately they were disqualified due to leaving the course and thus finished unplaced.

He already worked as a coach during his racing career. Between 1948 and 1950 he also held the position of captain of the Hungarian kayak-canoe team. He enlisted in 1953 and worked as the head coach of the Bp. Honvéd. In 1954, together with Zoltán Tálos, they wrote the “Handbook of Kayaking and Canoeing”.

In 1957 he left Hungary and settled in Italy where he became the coach of the Italian Olympic team. In 1966 he was approached by the American federation to take on the position of coach of the US Olympic team, which he held only for a short time, as he died young - at the age of 46 - of a heart attack. His wife, Margit Pirik, also kayaked before changing her sport to basketball. She played 46 times for the Hungarian national team, with whom she won a silver and a bronze medal each at the European Championships.