Zoltán Tauber (July 20, 1934 – September 10, 2020) was a Hungarian para table tennis player who competed at international table tennis competitions. He was the first Hungarian Paralympic champion in 1976.[1][2]
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | July 20, 1934 Felsőegerszeg, Kingdom of Hungary | |||||||||||
| Died | September 10, 2020 (aged 86) Budapest, Hungary | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Para table tennis | |||||||||||
Medal record
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In 1945, eleven year old Tauber lost both of his hands while dismantling war shells. He learned to play table tennis at the National Home for Disabled Children.[3]
He took part in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and survived the massacre in Kossuth Square where he was delivering bread on a handcart. In 1976, he won Hungary's first ever Paralympic gold, in the days following his victory, the Hungarian team fled the Paralympic village and returned home duet to Soviet political pressure, Tauber hid his gold medal in his sock, he and his teammate Jószef Oláh's bronze medal in the 100m B weren't recognised. Tauber didn't regain his Paralympic title forty years later where he received his gold medal at a swearing-in ceremony at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, as well as his gold medal, Tauber received Oláh's bronze medal and awarded the medal to Oláh's widow.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Tauber Zoltan - Hungarian Paralympic Committee (in Hungarian)". Hungarian Paralympic Committee. 15 June 2024.
- ^ "Zoltan Tauber - International Paralympic Committee". International Paralympic Committee. 15 June 2024.
- ^ "Hungary's first Paralympic champion Tauber dies aged 86". insidethegames.biz. 5 October 2020.
- ^ "Ujbuda and Hungarian sport mourns its legendary champion (in Hungarian)". Ujbuda. 2 October 2020.