Sándor Wladár

After the American boycott of 1980 Olympic Games, Hungarian Zoltán Verrasztó, the 1975 World Champion and 1978 World silver medalist in the 200 backstroke, was considered the favorite in this event. But in the Olympic final, Verrasztó was upset by young compatriot Sándor Wladár, who beat Verrasztó by nearly half a second to win gold.

Before the Olympics, Wladár won both backstroke events and the 200 IM bronze at the 1978 European Junior Championships. After the Olympics, he won both backstroke events at the 1981 European Championships, after which he was named European Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World magazine and was selected as the Hungarian Sportsman of the Year. At the 1982 World Championships Wladár won silver in the 200 back and his last international medal came at the 1983 European Championships, winning silver in the 200 m backstroke. Wladár won 22 Hungarian titles between 1979-85 – 50 back (1985), 100 back (1981-84), 200 back (1979-84), 100 free (1984), 200 free (1980), 200 IM (1982-83), 400 IM (1981-83), 4x100 free relay (1984), 4x200 free relay (1981-82), and medley relay (1982).

After finishing his swimming career in 1985, Wladár played water polo with Újpesti Dózsa from 1985-87, winning the Hungarian championships with them in 1986. Wladár graduated from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Budapest in 1987 and later operated his own veterinary clinic in Budapest with his older brother Zoltán, who was also an international level swimmer, competing at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics.

Personal Bests: 100 m backstroke – 56.72 (1981); 200 m backstroke – 2:00.80 (1981).