Ervin Zador
Encyclopedia
Ervin Zádor is a Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 retired water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...

 player and former member of the Hungarian national team
Hungary men's national water polo team
The Hungary men's national water polo team represents Hungary in international men's water polo competitions and is controlled by Hungarian Water Polo Association. They are considered the world's top power in the history of water polo, having won 15 Olympic, 9 World Championship, 5 FINA World...

.

Career

At the age of 21 Zádor represented Hungary at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Ten nations competed in water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. The event was open only to men's teams.-Medallists:-Results:For the team rosters see: Water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics - Men's team squads.-Preliminary round:...

 in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. He played four matches and scored five goals.

The Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 and Hungary fielded competitive water polo teams who met in the semifinal round at the Olympics. Due to the Soviet Union's invasion of Hungary
1956 Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution or Uprising of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956....

 weeks earlier and the tension between both teams, the game was predicted to be very physical. In the game, Zádor scored twice as Hungary took a 4-0 lead. During play, Valentin Prokopov
Valentin Prokopov
Valentin Ivanovich Prokopov is a Russian water polo player who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1952 Summer Olympics and in the 1956 Summer Olympics. He is perhaps best remembered as the man who struck Hungarian player Ervin Zádor in the Blood in the Water match.In 1952 he was part of the...

 struck Zádor in the face, opening a cut under his right eye. Due to Zádor's bleeding and multiple other skirmishes, the game would be known as the "Blood In The Water
Blood In The Water match
The "Blood in the Water" match was a water polo match between Hungary and the USSR at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. The match, which took place on December 6, 1956, was against the background of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and saw Hungary defeat the USSR 4–0...

" game. The match was stopped in the last minute remaining to quell fighting among spectators. Shown in a photo emerging from the water bleeding, Zádor later commented "All I could think about is, 'Could I play the next match?'." Zádor's injury did not allow him to play in the Olympic final, but his team won the Olympic gold medal with a 2-1 win over Yugoslavia.

In April 2006, the documentary Freedom's Fury premiered, with Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu
Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal , and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda.-Early...

 and Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...

 as executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...

s. The film dramatizes the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and climaxes with the water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...

 showdown between Hungary and the Soviet Union. The documentary follows the story of Ervin Zádor, who is portrayed as the unwitting focal point of this politicized sports match. In a 2006 interview, however, Zádor related that the Hungarian strategy was to anger the Russian team and cause errors. Mark Spitz
Mark Spitz
Mark Andrew Spitz is a retired American swimmer. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, an achievement only surpassed by Michael Phelps who won eight golds at the 2008 Olympics....

, who narrates "Freedom's Fury", was coached by Zádor as a young man.

External links

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