1952: Korondi Wins Hungary’s Third Olympic Trial

As the 1952 Olympics approached, the Hungarian women’s gymnastics team found itself amid a fierce battle for the coveted spots. A series of four trials* would determine who would represent Hungary on the world stage, and the competition was anything but predictable.

In the opening trial at the 1951 Masters Championships, Ágnes Keleti emerged victorious, with Margit Korondi taking second. But the tide shifted at the second trial, the 1952 Liberation Day competition, where Korondi edged out Keleti for the top spot. By the third trial, Keleti seemed poised to reclaim her lead, holding an advantage after the compulsory routines. However, a stumble in the optional exercises opened the door for Korondi to seize the win and solidify her place as a top contender.

Meanwhile, on the men’s side, the absence of Lajos Sántha, the 1951 Masters Champion, left an opening for János Klencs to step up and make his mark.

Here are the results and contemporaneous commentary from the penultimate trial for Hungary’s Olympic team.

*Note: Some articles indicate that there were only three trials, but other articles indicate that there were four trials, including the Liberation Day competition.

Women’s Results

Gymnast	UB	BB	VT	FX	Total
1. Korondi Margit	9.60	9.40	9.70	9.50	38.20
Opt.	9.60	9.63	9.73	9.67	38.63
Total	19.20	19.03	19.43	19.17	76.83

2. Perényi Vásárhelyi Edit	9.37	9.50	9.77	9.47	38.11
Opt.	9.37	9.60	9.83	9.63	38.43
Total	18.74	19.10	19.60	19.10	76.54

3. Zalai Kövi Mária	9.27	9.40	9.40	9.47	37.54
Opt.	9.30	9.50	9.80	9.60	38.20
Total	18.57	18.90	19.20	19.07	75.74

4. Gulyás Erzsébet	9.37	9.03	9.57	9.40	37.37
Opt.	9.57	9.50	9.57	9.40	38.04
Total	18.94	18.53	19.14	18.80	75.41

5. Keleti Ágnes	9.83	9.67	8.97	9.77	38.24
Opt.	9.73			9.87	36.87
Total	19.56			19.64	75.11

6. Bodó Andrea	9.20	8.97	9.47	9.53	37.17
Opt.	9.37	9.30	9.50	9.37	37.54
Total	18.57	18.27	18.97	18.90	74.71

7. Daruházi Irén	9.33	9.13	9.00	9.37	36.83
Opt.	9.33	9.43			37.33
Total	18.66	18.56			74.16

8. Milanovics Ilona			9.30	9.27	36.47
Opt.			9.57		36.53
Total			18.87		73.00

9. Tass Olga	9.33	9.40	9.20	9.53	37.46
Opt.	9.30			9.47	35.14
Total	18.63			19.00	72.60

10. Bánáti Eva		9.17		9.37	35.61
Opt.		9.30		9.40	36.70
Total		18.47		18.77	72.31

11. Horváth		9.00			35.84
Opt.					36.30
Total					72.14

12. Sándor	9.23		9.17		36.20
Opt.	9.47		9.67		35.91
Total	18.70		18.84*		72.11

13. Csicskár Mária			9.07		36.10
Opt.			9.53		35.90
Total		18.13	18.60		72.00

14. Kertész Alice	9.27				36.11
Opt.					35.63
Total					71.74

15. Szilas Kriszta					35.26
Opt.					36.44
Total					71.70

16. Oláh					34.78
Opt.					36.31
Total					71.09

*Note: The newspapers list Sándor’s total on vault as 18.87.

Women’s Commentary

On Compulsories

Ágnes Keleti won three of the compulsory exercises and showed much improvement in the fourth: vault. Köröndi again performed her exercises well and securely, but made a minor mistake on floor and beam. Mrs. Gulyás competed with an injury, and Mrs. Perényi showed that she was seriously worried about the competition.
Nemzeti Sport, April 27, 1952

Keleti Ágnes az előírt gyakorlatok közül hármat nyert meg s a negyedikben, a lóugrásban is komoly javulás mutatkozott nála. Köröndi ezúttal is biztosan és szépen hajtotta végre gyakorlatait, talaj- és gerendagyakorlatba azonban kisebb hiba csúszott. Gulyásné szérülten versenyzett, Perényinén meglátszott, hogy komolyan kétrzült a versenyre.

On Optionals

Uneven Bars

Keleti performed her routines quite well. She completed her kip to static hold between the bars without excess movement. With this, her Olympic exercise was complete from the perspective of difficulty. The routine of Mrs. Gulyás was performed the most beautifully, but the judges gave her a low score, Korondi was striving for security. Mrs. Daruházi and Mrs. Sándor both improved quite a lot.
Nemzeti Sport, April 28, 1952

Keleti igen jól mutatta be gyakorlatát. A billenésnél közlendület nélkül végezte a két karfán való átterpesztést s ezzel anyagerősség szempontjából teljes lett olimpiai gyakorlata. Gulyásné gyakorlata volt a legszebb kivitelű, de a pontozók leértékelték, Korondi a biztonságra törekedett. Igen sokat javult Daruháziné és Sándorné.

Balance Beam

Almost all the competitors were nervous. Tass, Keleti, and Mrs. Sándor fell off the apparatus. Köröndi was also more off-balance than usual. Mrs. Perényi worked well.
Nemzeti Sport, April 28, 1952

Csaknem az egész mezőny nagyon ideges volt. Tass, Keleti és Sándorné le is esett a szerről. Köröndi is határozatlanabb volt a szokottnál. Perényiné kivitellel dolgozott.

Vault

With the exception of a few competitors, almost all of them did handsprings. Mrs. Perényi overtook Korondi due to her better landing. Mrs. Sándor improved quite a lot.
Nemzeti Sport, April 28, 1952

Egy-két kivételtől eltekintve minden versenyző kézenátfordulást ugrott. Pe- rényiné jobb talajfogásával előzte meg Korondit. Nagyon sokat javult Sándorné.

Floor

This was the last part of the competition; thus, the competitors were visibly tired. Keleti’s exceptional exercise was almost impeccable. Korondi moved well, and managed to hold onto first place.
Nemzeti Sport, April 28, 1952

Ez volt a verseny utolsó száma s így kicsit már fáradtan mozogtak a versenyzők. Keleti csaknem hibátlanul hajtotta végre nagyszerű anyagú gyakorlatát. Korondi jól mozgott, biztosan őrizte meg vezető helyét.

The Results of the Men’s Competition

	PH	PB	HB	SR	VT	FX	Total
1. Klencs János	18.10	18.10	18.40	17.40	19.60	19.10	110.70
2. Kemény Ferenc	16.90	18.10	18.70	19.00	18.80	17.20	108.70
3. Réti	18.30		17.30	16.10		18.80	107.10
4. Tóth L.	16.60	18.10	19.10	16.70	18.70	17.30	106.50
5. Tóth K.	17.10	18.50	17.90	17.70	18.30	17.00	106.50
6. Simonfalvi	16.00	18.30	17.30	17.40	18.80	18.40	106.20
7. Kocsis Károly		18.80	18.20	17.40	18.20	18.60	105.10
8. Kabos	16.60		17.40	17.70			102.90
9. Mező				14.40	18.40	18.00	99.20
10. Fekete József	18.30	17.90			18.80	18.50	90.60

The third Olympic Trials for our best competitors (the first one is the master championship, the second was the Liberation contest) only the women’s group brought satisfactory results. Among the men’s selection, Sántha did not even enter the competition because of his injury. Várkői withdrew after the fourth apparatus during the optional exercises, Takács and Baranyai did not take part in the optional exercises due to their arm and ankle injuries, Pataki missed parallel bars, high bar, and pommel horse due to an arm injury.
Nemzeti Sport, April 29, 1952

A legjobb tornászaink részére kiírt harmadik olimpiai válogatóverseny (az első a mesterfokú-bajnokság, a második a Felszabadulási-verseny lett) csak a nők csoportjában hozott kielégítő eredményeket. A férfiak közül Sántha sérülése miatt el sem kezdte a versenyt. Várkői az előírt gyakorlatok negyedik szere után visszalépett, Takács és Baranyai kar-, illetve bokasérülés miatt nem vett részt a szabadon választott gyakorlatok bemutatásában, Pataki pedig ugyancsak karsérülés miatt a korlát-, nyújtó- és lólengés gyakorlatokat kihagyta.