| Olympic medalist | ||
| Medal record | ||
| Men's Water polo | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1956 Melbourne | Team competition |
Ervin Zádor (born on June 7, 1935) is a Hungarian retired water polo player and former member of the Hungarian national team.
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At the age of 21 Zádor represented Hungary at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. He played four matches and scored five goals.
The Soviet Union 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 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 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" 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?'."[1] 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 and Quentin Tarantino as executive producers. The film dramatizes the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and climaxes with the water polo 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.[2] Mark Spitz, who narrates "Freedom's Fury", was coached by Zádor as a young man.[3]
Born in Budapest, Zádor currently lives in Linden, California.