Dezső Gyarmati: The Athlete Who Got it All
Dezső Gyarmati's life went quite differently than Benedek’s. He defected briefly to the United States with his wife, the highly successful swimmer Éva Szekély. Unlike Szűcs, Gyarmati's defection did not spur a death sentence. The significant difference in how the defections of Szűcs and Gyarmati were treated illustrates a near-radical shift in sport leaders' tactics with athletes.
After touring the States with the help of Sports Illustrated magazine, Gyarmati and Szekély returned to Hungary in 1958. He faced a 1-year suspension from competitive sport. Gyarmati rejoined the national team in 1958 however, and competed for Hungary at the 1960 Rome Olympics. After retiring, he became the coach of the national water polo team in the mid-1970s. His career peaked in 1976, when the Hungarian men’s water polo team won the gold medal at the Montreal Olympics that year. Rather than be relegated to the background (like Benedek), Gyarmati is still considered the best Hungarian water polo player of all time. The below video, made in his honor after his death, illustrates the reverence that surrounded Gyarmati. He was and still remains a hero in the eyes of Hungarians. In many ways he really was the athlete who got it all.
