Lajos Sántha

From 1936 Lajos Sántha was a gymnast at the Testnevelési Főiskola SC (College of Physical Education SC), and from 1941 to 1952 the Postás SE. Between 1942 and 1952 Sántha won six national individual all-around championship titles. He was part of the Hungarian national team from 1938 to 1952. At the 1948 London Olympics he was a member the Hungarian gymnastics team that finished third. He achieved his best individual result on the horizontal bar where he placed fourth. At the 1952 Helsinki Olympics he finished sixth in the team and 18th in the individual all-around competition. This was a very good result considering his age, as he was already 37 years old at the time.

In 1940 Sántha obtained a teaching certificate at the College of Physical Education. He was an employee of Magyar Posta until 1944 where he was pursuing his doctorate of Law at the Pázmány Péter University. From 1948 he was a staff member of the gymnastics department of the College of Physical Education, a college teacher, and then an associate professor. In 1950 he formed the gymnastics department of the Budapesti Honvéd SE. From 1952 to 1975 he was the coach of the Postás men’s gymnastics department. During this time from 1953 to 1954, and then from 1957 to 1958, he was the head coach of the men’s national team. In 1958 due to his political views and involvement in the 1956 uprising he was removed from the College of Physical Education, with his appointment as head coach being revoked.

From 1962 to 1968 he was again the head coach of the men’s national team. After the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, he was the professional leader of the Újpest Dozsa and then again of the Budapesti Honvéd. After the regime change in 1990, he was officially rehabilitated.