Alfréd Hajós

As a 13-year-old boy, Arnold Guttmann saw his father drown in the Danube, after which he felt the urge to become a good swimmer. With the growing Hungarian nationalism and the impending 1000-year existence of the country, he changed his surname to Hajós ("sailor"). At age 17, he won the European Championships in the 100 m freestyle held in Vienna (1895), and added the Austro-Hungarian title the next day. Hajós was selected for the Hungarian team for the first Olympics in Athens, where he hoped to swim all events. Because of the tight schedule, he could only compete in the 100 and 1200 m freestyle, but won both races. Hajós retained his European title several months later, although not after his compatriot Gräfl had been disqualified. He placed fifth at the 1897 European Championships, after which he gave more attention to other sports. He won a number of Hungarian track and field titles, in events as varied as the discus throw and the hurldes. He also played football, winning the Hungarian title and playing on the national team. He was coach of the Hungarian squad between 1906 and 1908.

Hajós won another Olympic medal in 1924, in the art contests. An architect by trade, his design for a stadium, co-designed by former tennis player [Dezső Lauber], won a silver medal. Outside of this competition, he designed many sports facilities too. Among the best known are Budapest's swimming stadium (which hosted the 2006 European Championships), and the [Újpest FC] stadium.