The "Blood in the Water" match (in Hungarian Melbourne-i vérfürdő, "Blood Bath" of Melbourne) 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. The name was coined after Hungarian player Ervin Zádor emerged during the last two minutes with blood pouring from under his eye after being punched by Soviet player Valentin Prokopov.
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On October 23, 1956, a demonstration by students escalated into an uprising against the Soviet puppet government in Budapest. For a few days it appeared Hungary might free itself from the USSR. On November 1, however, Soviet tanks began rolling into Hungary and from November 4 to November 10 forces began suppressing the uprising with air strikes, artillery bombardments, and tank-infantry actions.
At the time, the Hungarian water polo team was in a mountain training camp above Budapest. They were able to hear the gunfire and see smoke rising. The players were the defending Olympic champions; with the Summer Olympics in Melbourne two months away, they were moved into Czechoslovakia to avoid being caught in the revolution.[1] The players only learned of the true extent of the uprising after arriving in Australia and they were all anxious for news of friends and family.
By the start of the Olympics, the uprising had been dealt with, and many players saw the Olympics as a way to salvage pride for their country. "We felt we were playing not just for ourselves but for our whole country" said Zádor after the match. The "Blood In The Water" match was played in front of a partisan crowd bolstered with expatriate Hungarians (many of whom had been in the boxing arena before to see the Hungarian László Papp win his third gold medal) as well as Australians and Americans who detested their Cold War Soviet rivals.
A whistle came, I looked at the referee, I said 'What's the whistle for?' And the moment I did that, I knew I'd made a horrible mistake. I turned back and with a straight arm, he just smacked me in the face. He tried to punch me out. I saw about 4,000 stars. And I reached to my face and I felt warm blood pouring down. And I instantly said, 'Oh my God, I won't be able to play the next game.'
In the morning before the start, the Hungarians had evolved a strategy to taunt the Russians, whose language they had been forced to study in school. In the words of Zádor: "We had decided to try and make the Russians angry to distract them."[3]
From the beginning, kicks and punches were exchanged. At one point the Hungarian captain, Dezső Gyarmati, punched a Russian; it was caught on film.[3] Meanwhile, the Hungarian Zádor scored two goals to 'Hajrá magyarok!' (Go Hungarians!) cheers of the crowd.
Hungary was leading 4–0 in the final minutes. Zádor was marking Valentin Prokopov with whom he had verbal exchanges, such as abusing his family. Prokopov struck him, causing a bleeding gash. Zádor left the pool, and his bleeding was the final straw for a crowd already in frenzy. Many angry spectators jumped on to the concourse beside the water, shook their fists, shouted abuse and spat at the Russians.[4] To avoid a riot, police entered the arena with one minute to go and shepherded the crowd away.
Pictures of Zádor's injuries were published around the world, leading to the "Blood in the Water" name, although reports that the water actually turned red were an exaggeration. Zádor said his only thought was whether he would be able to play the next match.
Hungary was declared the winner since they had been leading and then beat Yugoslavia 2–1 in the final to win their fourth Olympic gold medal.
In 2006, for the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, a documentary Freedom's Fury told the story of the match. The film was produced by Lucy Liu and Quentin Tarantino, who described it as "the best untold story ever". The documentary was narrated by Mark Spitz, who as a teenager had been coached by Ervin Zádor.
Also in 2006, a feature film about the match was released, entitled Children of Glory (Szabadság, szerelem in Hungarian, which means Freedom, love, after the lines of Sándor Petőfi, the martyred poet of the 1848–49 revolution). The movie shows the Hungarian Revolution through the eyes of a player on the water polo team and a girl who is one of the student leaders. It was directed by Krisztina Goda, and produced by Andrew G. Vajna. The movie appeared in Hungarian cinemas on 23 October 2006, the 50th anniversary of the revolution. On 29 October 2006, it was shown at the White House for President George W. Bush and guests (including Hungarian figures such as George Pataki, Governor of New York and George A. Olah, Nobel Prize winner).
The incident features in the 1978 Australian film Newsfront.
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