Gábor Vida

Gábor Vida started competitive figure skating in 1944, but due to World War II had to his career on hold for a year. He started to skate for BKE (Budapest Skating Club) in 1945 and the following year won the junior national championship, which he repeated in the following years. In men’s singles he achieved his best results in 1951, finishing second in the Hungarian Championship and the World College Games.

In 1950, Vida started to skate in pairs and partnered Éva Szöllősi. They won the national title in 1953 and between 1950-55, finished second on five occasions to the Nagy siblings, Marianna and László. In 1952, Vida and Szöllősi finished 10th at the Oslo Olympics, and the following year won the World College Championships. They finished 8th (1953) and 11th (1955) in the World Championships, and 7th (1956) and 8th (1952 and 1955) in the Europeans.

Szöllősi emigrated in 1956 which left Vida looking for a new partner but, despite efforts to find one, he eventually gave up his search. At that time, however, the Hungarian Ice Revue was formed, and Vida performed as a solo dancer and choreographer between 1957-65. After that, Vida worked as a coach, from 1965-84 for FTC and from 1984 for Bp. Spartacus. He was a member of the training committee of the Hungarian Ice Sports Association and the Hungarian Ice Skating Association.