The 33th Summer Olympics will host 11 women and 12 men from the Hungarian Defense Forces.Continue reading
180 athletes from a total of 82, including 65 Hungarian sports clubs, will represent Hungary at the Paris Olympics starting on Friday, said Tamás Deutsch, President of the Federation of National Sports Associations (SOSZ).
On Thursday, most of the Hungarian Olympians will be from the capital city’s top sports clubs: the Ferencváros Gymnastics Club (FTC) will provide 23, the Budapest Honvéd Sports Club (BHSE) 14, Újpest Gymnastics Club (UTE) 10, the Budapest Vasutas Sport Club-Zugló (BVSC) 8, MTK Budapest 7 and Vasas SC 5 athletes. These clubs are followed by the Debrecen Sportiskola, the OTP Bank – Pick Szeged handball team, the Szeged Water Sports Association and the Szombathely Dobó Sports SE with four Olympians, and then the Atomerőmű SE from Paks, followed by Balaton Swimming Club from Veszprém, Budaörs Sports Club, Dunaújváros College Water Polo Club, Dunaújváros Central Sports Association and the UVSE water polo club with three athletes.
UTE athletes will compete in the majority of sports, competing for medals in seven Olympic sports.
The FTC, BHSE and MTK Budapest will compete in six Olympic events.
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó pointed out that the 180 Hungarian athletes will take part in 21 sports, including a 15-year-old swimmer, Vivien Jackl, who has a good chance of becoming one of the youngest athletes in the Olympic Games. “Hungarian athletes have won 515 medals at the Summer Olympics so far. We hope this number will continue to grow,” he said.
The minister announced that
nine Hungarian consuls will be on duty in France during the Olympics to provide on-the-spot assistance to athletes and fans, if needed.
Referring to the information provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the minister said that a total of 13,831 tickets had been sold to Hungarian fans, who were most interested in the water polo and handball matches, as well as the kayak canoe races. “The fact that there are so many Hungarian athletes (…) and fans in one place at the same time is of course a special challenge for us, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In order to make the Olympics a memorable event for our athletes, their companions and fans alike, we are trying to help them,” he stressed.
He noted that seven consuls will be on duty in Paris and two in Lyon during the Olympics to assist Hungarians arriving at the venues, whether they be athletes or fans. “If anyone is in trouble or just wants information in advance, the contact details on the consular service’s website are the ones to use,” he underlined. Hungarians in trouble during the Olympic Games can contact the diplomats on the 24-hour hotline +36 30 084 16 05.
Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Kovács Tamás