Lajos Máté

A ten-time Hungarian national slalom champion, Lajos Máté represented his country at the 1948 St. Moritz Olympics in all three disciplines, placing 48th, 66th, and 84th in the slalom, combined, and downhill respectively. He continued competing internationally, placing 22nd in the giant slalom at the 1954 World Championships, but fled his native country following the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. He settled in Cleveland, Ohio in the United States, changing his name to “Louis Mate”, but was eventually drawn to Salt Lake City, Utah, for its skiing opportunities.

Máté earned a degree in automobile design engineering from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and worked as a car salesman in his native country. After moving to the United States, he eventually opened an automobile dealership, Mate’s Sports Car Clinic, in Salt Lake City. He retired from active involvement in his company in 2002 and settled in Idaho.