Széchenyi István University achieved outstanding sports results in 2024. In May, it successfully organised the biggest event in Hungarian university sport, and then also excelled in other university championships. The same was true of the world competitions, which saw 20 of the institution's students win the title of University Athlete of the Year.

The Hungarian University Sports Federation (MEFS) held its University Sportsperson of the Year Awards Gala. Based on their results in this year's world university and adult competitions, 20 students from Széchenyi István University were awarded the title of University Athlete of the Year: in basketball, Fanni Baffy, Borbála Bánszegi, Emma Mihály and Lilla Anna Rozmán, in judo, András Vida and Botond Bence Szeredás, in kick-boxing, Péter Petrovics, in rowing, Eszter Fehérvári, Zsófia Luca Csepel, Zsombor Balog, Márton Józsa, Péter László Gasztonyi, Márió Glázer, Fanni Fazekas, Léna Lilian Viandt, Shah Amir and Barnabás Gasztonyi, Gergő Rumi in canoeing, Petra Zsankó in cycling and Ádám Bukor in swimming.

The students of Széchenyi István University did well at the world competitions again this year (Photo: MEFS)

Széchenyi István University successfully organised the MEFOB Festival in May, which was the biggest ever event in Hungarian university sport. Most of the gold medals in the event, which included competitions in 13 sports, were won by the host team from Győr. The students also excelled at the European University Games in Debrecen this summer, and they also came home with medals from a number of world university and adult competitions. Kincső Takács in canoeing and Dalma Sebestyén in swimming represented the institution at the Paris Olympics.

More sporting successes at the end of the year

Recently, 24 teams from 22 universities in 18 countries participated in the 3×3 Basketball World University Championship in Xiamen, China, where the women's team of Széchenyi István University was the only team representing Hungary. The team consisting of Fanni Baffy, Borbála Bánszegi, Léna Kovács and Emma Mihály, led by Dr István Barthalos, finished the world event in 9th place. "I am very proud of my team's achievements and that we were able to be here. The experience gained at the tournament will be used to improve the team," he concluded. In the three-point shooters' competition, Léna Kovács reached the final four in first place, where she finished fourth.

The Széchenyi István University team represented Hungary at the World Championships in China.

The competitors from Győr also returned home with good results from various university championships in different sports, and they have continued to add to their medal collection over the past few weeks. At the swimming MEFOB in Gödöllő, the team of Mónika Beatrix Ollé, Dalma Sebestyén, Levente Deák and Matthew O'Sullivan showed the value of the cooperation between Széchenyi University and Győr Swimming SE. In the certified athlete category, the students finished at the top of the medal table with five gold and two silver medals.

At the Judo MEFOB held in the Ludovika Arena of the National University of Public Service, Széchenyi students also collected some shiny medals. Titanilla Ábrahám won a silver medal in the 57 kg weight category of the professional women's category. In the professional men's category, Regő Takács won the bronze medal in 81 kg. weight class, Bálint Mihályi in the 90 kg. and Zoltán Kőhalmi in the +100 kg., while in the amateur men's category, Ákos Bátor Nagy took third place in the 90 kg. class.

The 2024 National University Curling Cup was held in the Győr Ice Sports Centre in cooperation with the Hungarian Curling Association, Győr ETO HC and Széchenyi University. The teams of the University of Győr achieved second, fifth, sixth and eighth places in the competition. From 2025, the cup will officially continue as the Hungarian University-College National Championship.

Victory at the Higher Technical Education Sports Days

One of the longest-established competitions in the university sports sector is the Technical University Sports Days. This year's event was hosted by the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, with Széchenyi István University as the overall winner (1st place in women's basketball and small-sided football, 2nd place in men's basketball, table tennis and mixed volleyball, 4th place in chess), ahead of Óbuda University in second place and the University of Pécs in third.

"Out of the 51 competitions held so far, Széchenyi István University has hosted the event the most times, thanks to the fact that our sports infrastructure is still outstanding among the participating institutions. It is also not surprising that in the composite points competition, with 30 first places, we have achieved outstanding results in the more than a half-century history of the event," said Dr Tamás Gyömörei, Head of the University's Sports and Recreation Centre, in connection with the competition.