Lajos Maszlay

Lajos Maszlay started his sports career in 1919. In the beginning, he competed in many sports (athletics, swimming, tennis, skiing, fencing), and in 1925 he won a college championship in the high jump, but in the end, fencing remained his main discipline. In 1933, as a student of the Ludovika Military Academy and a member of the Honvéd Tiszti Vívóklub, he won the Army Championship in sabre. In 1938 he won the national championship in sabre. Between 1931-51, he won 24 team event national titles, and from 1931-53, he represented Hungary in all three types of weapons.

At the 1933 European Championships, Maszlay finished first with the sabre team and second in team foil. At the 1935 European Championships, he repeated with the sabre team and finished third with the foil team. At the World Championships he finished first in team sabre in 1937 and third in team foil in 1953.

Maszlay competed at three Olympics. At the 1936 Berlin Games he finished seventh with the foil team. Maszlay won a bronze medal at the 1948 London Olympics in the individual foil and four years later added another bronze in Helsinki with the foil team.

From 1945 Maszlay competed in the colors of Toldi Miklós SE, from 1947 those of MTK Csepel, and from 1950-53 in the colors of the Budapest Honvéd.

After 1945, Maszlay worked as the head of the Sports Training Subdivision of the General Training Group Headquarters of the Ministry of Defense. He was a member of the sports committee of Csepel MTK and the management committee of the Hungarian Fencing Association, and then became the chairman of the judges’ council.