Krisztina Egerszegi

Egerszegi broke out in international competition at the Summer Olympics in Seoul in 1988. She was only fourteen years old and weighed ninety-nine pounds, forty-four pounds less than the next smallest competitor. Despite her youth and small stature, Egerszegi won a gold in the 200 meter backstroke—setting an Olympic record in the process—and a silver in the 100 meter

Krisztina Egerszegi

backstroke. She lost the gold in the 100 meter race by less than a second.

In 1991, Egerszegi continued to show her prowess in the backstroke. She set world records in two events at the European and World Championships. At the worlds, she won gold medals in the 200 meter backstroke and the 100 meter backstroke, setting the world record in the 200 meter backstroke. At the European Championships, Egerszegi set the world record with a time of 1:00.31 in the 100 meter backstroke, winning gold in this race. She also won gold in the 200 meter backstroke and 400 meter individual medley at that competition. The value of her training showed through at the European Championships. Craig Lord of the Times wrote "Egerszegi's ability to endure the pain of hard training was said by [Laszlo] Kiss to be one of the key reasons why she was so far ahead of her rivals."

Queen of the Olympics

Egerszegi was still powerful swimming force at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, as a veteran eighteen-year-old. By this time, she was a star in Hungary, and was dubbed the "Queen" of these Olympics. She was the only female athlete to win three individual events at these games. She won one gold medal in the 400 meter individual medley, though she was not expected to, nor did think she would. Egerszegi's primary concern was the 200 meter backstroke, which she also won gold in as well as the 100 meter backstroke. She set Olympic records in both the 100 meter and 200 meter backstroke.

The following year, Egerszegi continued to prove her dominance and improvement as a swimmer. At the European swimming championships, she won four gold medals in the 100 and 200 meter backstroke, 400 meter individual medley, and 200 meter butterfly. Her win in the butterfly marked the first time she won the event in a major competition. By this time, Egerszegi had good backing from sponsors in Switzerland and was considered the most multitalented swimmer in the world.

In 1994 and 1995, Egerszegi did not do as well at the World and European Championships as she had in recent years. At the 1994 World Championships, she only medaled in the 200 meter backstroke, and it was a silver. Egerszegi had actually planned on retiring after this competition, but because of the loss to China's He Cihong, she decided to continue training. However she chose to stop competing in the 100 meter backstroke at this time, in part because she believed that her technique helped her win over younger swimmers and this worked best in the longer races. At the European Championships in 1995, she won gold in the 200 meter backstroke and 400 meter individual medley.

Egerszegi competed at her third Summer Olympics at the 1996 games in Atlanta, Georgia. She again won in the 200 meter backstroke. She also won a bronze in the 400 meter individual medley. Though she did not enter the 100 meter backstroke competition, her backstroke time in the individual medley—which was 100 meters in length—would have won the gold in the event. Egerszegi's gold in the 200 meter backstroke was her fifth gold medal, the most won by an individual swimmer.