Krisztina Egerszegi

Biography

Egerszegi made her international debut at the 1987 European Aquatics Championships at age 13, placing fourth in the 200 m backstroke and fifth in the 100 m backstroke. At the 1988 Summer Olympics, she won silver in the 100 m backstroke and gold in the 200 m backstroke, becoming the youngest-ever female Olympic champion in swimming at 14 years and 41 days. That year she was top-ranked in the 200 m backstroke and named Swimmer of the Year and Best Female Athlete of the Year in Hungary.

At the 1989 European Aquatics Championships, despite a strong cold, she earned silver in the 100 m, 200 m backstroke, and 400 m medley. She again topped the world ranking in the 200 m backstroke and was selected Best Female Athlete of the Year. At the 1990 Goodwill Games, she won Hungary's only gold and silver medals. At the Hungarian Championships held in December, she won 12 gold medals.

In 1991, at the World Championships in Perth, she won both backstroke events, becoming the first Hungarian female swimmer to win gold at the World Championships.

The greatest margin

At the 1996 Summer Olympics, Egerszegi won bronze in the 400 m medley and gold in the 200 m backstroke, becoming the second of four swimmers to win the same event at three successive Olympics. Her winning time of 2:07.83 was 4.15 seconds ahead of runner-up Whitney Hedgepeth, the greatest margin in any women's 200 m event in swimming history. She did not enter the 100 m backstroke, but her leadoff backstroke time in the medley relay, 1:01.15, was faster than the winning time in the 100 m backstroke final.

Between 1988 and 1996 she won five individual Olympic gold medals, a record for a swimmer later broken by Michael Phelps; her record for female swimmers was broken by Katie Ledecky in 2021. She announced her retirement soon after the Games at age 22. That year she became a board member of the Hungarian Swimming Association, and in 2007 a member of the Hungarian Olympic Committee.

Records

Egerszegi set her first world record at the 1991 European Championships in Athens, winning the 100 m backstroke in 1:00.31, breaking Ina Kleber's time. Three days later she broke Betsy Mitchell's five-year-old 200 m backstroke record with 2:06.62. She held the long-course 200 m backstroke world record for 16 and a half years, until 16 February 2008.

Her 200 m backstroke record remained the oldest European record until 1 August 2009, when Anastasia Zuyeva broke it. She set Olympic records in the 200 m backstroke in 1988 (2:09.29) and improved it in 1992 (2:07.06); that record was broken by Kirsty Coventry in 2008. Her Olympic record in the 100 m backstroke (1:00.68, set in 1992) was broken by Diana Mocanu in 2000.

Honours and awards

Egerszegi was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2001. She was named Hungarian Sportswoman of the Year a record seven times and Female World Swimmer of the Year three times. On 23 June 2001, she received the Olympic Order from the IOC. On 20 August 2013, she was awarded the Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen, the highest state order of Hungary.

Other honours include Best Female Athlete of Europe (1992), Commander's Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit (1992), Olympic Golden Ring (1995), Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (1996), Golden Deer Award (1996), Hungarian Heritage Award (1996), MOB Medal (1997), IOC Ethical Special Award (1999), Hungarian Female Athlete of the Century (2001), Fair Play Award for Lifetime Achievement (2001), Ferenc Csík Award (2001), IOC Olympic Order of Merit grade silver (2001), Honorary Citizen of Budavar, IOC President's Trophy (2005), Prima Primissima Award (2007), St. Stephen Award (2010), Honorary Citizen of Budapest (2011), and Hall of Fame of the Hungarian Swimming Sports (2013).

Did You Know?

• The phrase "Come on Little Mouse! Come on little girl!" by Tamás Vitray became part of Hungarian popular culture.
• A 1993 book and a 2000 documentary film, both titled "Egerszegi", describe her career.