Seventy years ago, on July 28, 1952, the then 42-year-old Károly Takács crowned his exceptional career. At the Helsinki Olympics, which brought 16 Hungarian gold medals and set an Olympic record, he won the gold medal for the five-shot sports pistol (now known as the rapid-fire pistol) one round short of his own world record. Szilárd Kun, whose coach he was, finished in second place, and he was most proud of the fact that, parallel to his own success, he did not forget about his direct support and was able to train his successor as well.
Takács, who was born on January 21, 1910, had a pistol as his favorite toy even as a child. He was twelve years old when he got himself a revolver, but as soon as his parents saw it, it was immediately confiscated. At the age of fourteen, he was sent to a deputy officer training school, where he could get to know weapons even more closely, but since there were no pistols there, he had to shoot with a military rifle, and he became the best in the institute. At the age of 21, he won his first small competition with a pistol, and then, at the urging of his friends, he entered the Hungarian championship, where he finished second.
In this special event, the human-shaped target boards – it got its contemporary name from there, you had to aim at five figures – are 160 cm high and 45 cm wide, and you shoot at them from 25 meters. The contestants shot a series of six fives on the first day, and then repeated this on the shooting range on the second day. Each series had a time limit, while in the first one the balls had to be sent to the target within 8 seconds, in the second the interval was narrowed to 6 seconds, and in the third only 4 seconds were available for the shots. The heart was the maximum hit of 10, the area immediately next to it was 9, and the values decreased as you moved away from the heart. Only 4 rounds are credited for hitting hands and feet.
“In 1934, I became a student at the central physical training institute of the Honvéd, and of course I could only occasionally spare time for training and competing. And since a non-commissioned officer could not be a member of a civilian shooting club, there was no way for me to deal with pistol shooting,” he reported on his difficulties in the January 1943 issue of Képes Sport.
Based on his results, he could have already traveled to the 1936 Berlin Olympics, but he was not an officer, and the domestic regulations at the time gave priority and a privileged position to officers, even though he could have already fought for the places. His talent and fanaticism were noticed by Lieutenant Szentes, who gave him 10,000 cartridges to practice with, so that he could develop his skills not in target shooting, but in the rapid-fire pistol that was even closer to him. He made his debut in the national team in 1938 in a team competition against the Germans.
“My joy didn’t last long: I lost my right hand as a result of an accident on September 15, 1938. Everyone thought that my racing career was over forever, but I decided at the moment of the accident that I would take the pistol in my left hand from now on. Until the spring of the following year, I had constant strong training with my left hand, shooting about 10-15,000 rounds.
I didn’t want to be inferior to fate and in the end I managed to win.”
Takács served in Baja, and during the military exercise, a grenade exploded in his hand, completely destroying his wrist. Not only did he learn to handle the gun quickly, but also the pen. Since he had a very withdrawn character, he did not talk about the medical treatments he went through and how much this incident took him mentally. On the other hand, he recorded that in April 1939 he won the Hungarian championship with his left hand, which he thought was weaker. He also noted that his record was 521 laps with his right hand, while he was able to do 523 laps with his left hand after a few months of intense practice. Maybe that’s when he got his nickname: Iron Man. With such results, of course, he became a member of the national team and a member of the gold medal winning Hungarian team.
Injured, he could not have originally remained in the army, so his superior wrote a letter to Governor Miklós Horthy. With a document called Supreme Decision dated April 24, Horthy announced that he would allow Sergeant Takács to remain in actual service out of exceptional grace.
The 1940 Olympics were postponed because war was already raging in a part of Europe, but this did not stop sports life completely, competitions were held in war-free areas, and according to Takács’ own reports, he performed outstandingly. He won ten races in 1940, twelve in 1941, eighteen in 1942, there were only four races in which he was not declared the winner. Takács also excelled in athletics, earning a silver medal, but he was not shy in cross-country skiing either, photos were taken of him competing in this sport in Galyatető.
He also took part in the war, he was taken prisoner by the Americans, but there is no information about where exactly. After returning home, he prepared even more determinedly to be there at the London Olympics in 1948. He trained hard for the dream of his life, and tried many times during the trainings, what disturbing effects could be in a competition, he simulated the weather conditions, the atmosphere, so that nothing could upset him. If the sky thundered, it didn’t affect his training either, since the weather can turn rainy in London during the most important moments of the competition. When the majority rested, he was still standing in the shooting range at the training camp in Tata.
Károly Takács at the London Olympics, 1948 – Photo: S&G / PA / Getty Images
Takács started the Olympics with good omens, because he won the gold medal at the Balkan Championship by beating 44 laps to finish second. After the first day in London, he and Swedish champion Torsten Ullman led with 286 laps, followed by Argentina’s Valiante, but only one lap behind. On the second day, Takács was already in the lead after two series in the pouring rain, but before the last series, the Argentines took care. They saw that Takács’s gun went off before he announced that he was ready to fire and before the sights were turned outwards. The jury first annulled the Hungarian’s result, then he was able to stay in the competition, but after the nerve-wracking minutes there was still the sixth and last series to go.
Gusztáv Sebes was then the delegate of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, who later became the national team captain of the Golden Team. He went to the competition court and wanted a fair, careful judgment, without any bias. While Takács was waiting, he didn’t show any tension and practiced staying on target. If the competition court accepts the Argentinians’ defense, then Valiante is the gold medalist.
Since the appeal of the Hungarians was upheld, Takács was able to enter the firing position after the almost one-hour forced break. He didn’t show any tension, his facial muscles didn’t twitch, and in the last series he was able to complete the maximum performance of 50 laps, with which he increased his performance on the second day to 294 laps. And in the composite, he became the first with 580 laps, a world record, Valiante reached second place with 571 laps, he was also able to do one lap more than the record that had been in force until then.
Takács was not a man of words, he could not improvise well, so he wrote his speech in advance, and now he pulled it out of his pocket. Later, when he was already retired, he was asked how he had the courage to write it in advance. He replied that it only spurred him on to better results. He knew that he was capable of the final victory, and with this statement he just wanted to force his best performance out of him. So Takács reached into his inner pocket and took out a note:
“I represent my country, I won the Olympic championship. As the proverb says, talent belongs to the nation, diligence belongs to the individual. So, only one-third of this Olympic championship belongs to me, two-thirds belongs to my country, Hungary. To those who contributed to me becoming an Olympic champion.”
According to the correspondents at the scene, Takács also said that he does not consider himself talented, that the secret of his success is rather to be found in diligence. “In my opinion, seriousness and diligence are more important than talent. Maybe I have talents because I just became a target shooter and I’m in this particular sport. Here, the competitor must be confident, but willpower is more important than anything else. You have to be able to want, but you also have to want the will,” he concluded his speech.
Takács no longer prepared for the next Olympics alone, but also took care of his successor. He felt it was his duty that a competitor should raise his offspring, pass on his knowledge and experience. This also has a separate story. Once during training, the amputee could not properly hold the gun with his right hand, which went off during loading. He shot himself in the leg. He was taken to the university clinic on Üllői út, and quickly operated on. The bullet penetrated in such a place that his life was not in danger. When his rehabilitation began, he met the masseuse, whose son was very interested in shooting. He gave a few lessons to the 12-year-old boy, and in these sessions it was revealed that he was talented. At the time, Szilárd Kun was still smiled at by his elders, but he unwaveringly believed that they could not only participate in the Olympics together, but that he would be right next to him on the podium.
They did not have an easy race in Helsinki. THEz after the first day, Takács was in fourth place, because even though he improved one round compared to the one he shot in the previous Olympics, the 287 rounds were only enough for that. The Hungarian camp was a little worried seeing his position, team leader Gyula Hegyi even asked him: Károly, what will happen the next day? Takács replied unanimously and with unassailable self-confidence: we will win. It is justified by the fact that the 17-year-old Szilárd got to know the conditions, will no longer back down and will perform more confidently. And he again pushed himself to perform at his best by writing his victory speech in advance.
Sándor Kocsis, Károly Takács and József Csermák on a boat trip in the XV. during the Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki – Photo: Sándor Bojár / Fortepan
On the second day, he completed 292 laps, with which he jumped into the lead. However, there was also the American McMillan, who led after the first day, and even the Finnish Linnusvuo, who was on the home track, who was in second place. After finishing his competition, Takács packed up and went back to the Olympic village, instead of watching his biggest rivals on the spot.
“I haven’t had lunch yet. I can’t compete on an empty or full stomach, I need to digest. If there’s a tie and a shootout is necessary, I’ll be here by then, but I can still fit in a lunch.”
However, the two big opponents already made several mistakes on the second day, in fact only Kun was dangerous, who closed with an amazing performance of 294 laps and was one lap short of the gold, which his master could take home. When he got back from lunch, it was Valiante who shook his hand first. Campioni, campioni, whispered to him: he learned from him that he had defended the title, which he managed for the first time in the history of the discipline, and since then only two people can boast of such a feat.
At that time, he wrote not one, but two speeches, because he could not know in advance whether Kun would be the first or he. “Our holy country, we have paid everything we owed,” he greeted the journalists with a quote from Mihály Vörösmarty.
At the age of 46, Takács was at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, but then he was no longer in contention for medals, finishing in eighth place. In 1958, he finished his career with a European bronze medal.
After his retirement, he coached at the Honvéd, until his retirement he worked at the physical education department of the Zalka Máté Military College as a physical education and bull training head teacher. In the first days of January 1976, he was taken to the hospital and treated for pulmonary embolism. On his deathbed, he told journalist István Szombathy that his biggest victory was in London, because it was his first, but the i was added to the dot in Helsinki.
