Two-time Olympic champion Hungarian Margit Korondi dies in Las Vegas

Two-time Olympic champion Hungarian gymnast Margit Korondi has died at the age of 88, her former teammate Alice Kertész told the Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB) in agreement with the family of the deceased.

Who was Margit Korondi?

Born on 24 June 1932 in Celje (then Yugoslavia; today Slovenia), Korondi rose through Hungary’s post-war gymnastics system and competed for Vasas in Budapest. She became a national-team gymnast in the early 1950s and peaked on the Olympic stage at Helsinki in 1952.

Korondi is often grouped with Hungary’s great 1950s gymnastics generation, alongside names that shaped the country’s global reputation in women’s artistic gymnastics, the Hungarian official Olympic (MOB) site said.

What did she win at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics?

Helsinki was Korondi’s defining moment. She captured gold on uneven bars, and added medals across both individual and team events. In total, she left the 1952 Games with six Olympic medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze), an exceptional haul by any era’s standards.

Her uneven bars title also made her one of the headline Hungarian winners of those Games.

Why is she called a “two-time Olympic champion”?

In standard sports usage, “Olympic champion” means Olympic gold medallist. Korondi earned that label twice:

• 1952 (Helsinki): uneven bars gold
• 1956 (Melbourne): team gold (portable apparatus / “hand apparatus team” event in period terminology)

Across Helsinki and Melbourne, her overall Olympic tally is listed as 2 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze.

What happened between the two Olympics?

After Helsinki, Korondi’s career was interrupted by injury—serious enough that it threatened her continuation and kept her away from some major competitions. She eventually returned to Olympic level and competed again at Melbourne 1956, where she added two more medals to her record.

What was her life like after 1956?

Following the 1956 Olympics and the upheaval of that period, Korondi emigrated to the United States and continued working in sport and fitness, including coaching and teaching. Hungarian gymnastics sources also note her long American chapter, including work connected to coaching and physical education.