Béla Goldoványi

Béla Goldoványi started competing at MAFC relatively late, at the age of 21. Between 1947 and 1958 Goldoványi competed for MAFC, Budapesti Dózsa, and Építők SC. As one of the most successful sprinters of his time, he won the Hungarian championship six times in the 100 metres, eight times in the 200 metres, three times in the 4 x 100 metres, and once in the 4 x 400 metres relay.

He appeared in the national team 36 times. He achieved his best results in the Hungarian 4 x 100 metres relay, known as “lightning twins”. As a member of relay he finished first at the 1947 World College Championships in Paris followed by fourth at the 1948 London Olympics. They won gold at the 1949 World College Champions in Budapest, bronze at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, and gold at the 1954 European Championships in Bern.

In 1955 at the British Games in London, Goldoványi won the traditional 100-yard race of the English Open Championship. He took part in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, but due to an injury, he did not make it to the finals.

In 1950 he obtained an engineering degree at the Budapest University of Technology. He was located in the experimental plant of the Concrete Technology Institute. Goldoványi later transferred to the Underground Railway Construction Company, and finally to the Deep Construction Design Company. In the meantime, he was also the head of the athletic department of Építók SC, and a member of the board of the association. In 1964 his autobiography was published under the title A pair of spiked shoes — three Olympics. Tragically Goldoványi was only 46 when he died after undergoing an operation for an appendicitis in November 1972.

Personal Bests: 100 – 10.5 (1954); 200 – 21.2 (1955).