Egerszegi
Krisztina
Hungary has produced quite a few champion swimmers
over the years, but none have captured the public imagination as much as Olympic
gold medallist Krisztina Egerszegi.
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 1988
OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200m backstroke), silver (100m backstroke);
1992
OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 400m IM);
1996
OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (200m backstroke), bronze (400m IM);
TWO
WORLD RECORDS: 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke;
1991
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m backstroke, 200m backstroke);
1994
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (200m backstroke);
1989
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (400m IM);
1991
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 400m IM);
1993
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 200m butterfly,
400m IM);
1995
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (200m backstroke, 400m IM).
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Egérke (little mouse - a nickname created from her
surname) was born in Budapest, on 16 August, 1974. Her father János Egerszegi
gave her the most encouragement to pursue a swimming career. She was a wonder
child that became the darling of the nation when she won a gold medal in the
1988 Olympics.
Egerszegi is said to have gone through a very arduous training schedule,
consisting of about 80,000 meters a week and 4 to 8 hours a day. She performs
an exercise to strengthen her neck by placing a box on her forehead that is
not allowed to fall off. She paints her long fingernails blue, which she says
helps her to "grab the water". She owns and operates her own resturant
outside of Budapest called, "The Mousehole". Egér, incidentally means
"mouse" in Hungarian.
One of her hobbies is collecting little lucky charm
animals. And she has been a keen driver ever since she passed her driving test.
She spends a lot of time at her family's weekend house, and she loves travelling.
Kristina has retired from international swimming after the 1996 Olympic
Games in Atlanta.
She, one of the most prominent FINA athletes of all
times, was awarded the Olympic Order on June 23, 2001, during the celebration
of the Olympic Day by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne
(SUI). Along with another nine exceptional athletes in different sports, the
Hungarian swimmer thus received an additional recognition for her fabulous career.
Krisztina is now married and has 2 fabolous children.
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