Ilona Elek

Ilona Elek, known also as Ilona Elek-Schacherer (née "Schacherer," May 17, 1907 in Budapest, Hungary – July 24, 1988 in Budapest) of a Jewish father and Roman Catholic mother, was a Hungarian Olympic fencer. Elek won more international fencing titles than any other woman.

Fencing career

Elek competed for Hungary in three Olympiads, winning three medals. She is considered to be one of the greatest female fencers in the history of the sport.

Hungarian National Championships

Elek won the Hungarian foil championship in 1946–47, 1949–50, and 1952.

World Championships

Elek won the gold medal in women's foil at the World Championships in 1934, 1935, and 1951. She won silver in 1937 and 1954, and bronze in 1955.

Olympics

Elek was the first woman to win two Olympic gold medals in the individual foil competition.

Elek's first Olympic competition was at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, at the age of 29. She won the gold medal in the foil event, the first Hungarian woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics. In the process, Elek, who was Jewish, defeated a German with a Jewish father, Helene Mayer. The bronze medal went to Ellen Preis, an Austrian Jew.

Elek

Elek (Romanian: Aletea) is a town in Békés county, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary.

Geography

It covers an area of 54.94 km² and has a population of 5567 people (2002).

History

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Elek is twinned with:

Coordinates: 46°32′N 21°15′E / 46.533°N 21.250°E / 46.533; 21.250