- Ervin Zádor
Ervin Zádor (born in 1935 in
Hungary ) was a Hungarianwater polo player and member of the national team. At the age of 21, he represented his country at the 1956 Summer Olympics inMelbourne .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?'." [cite news | last = Schwartz | first = Larry | title = The day the Cold War came to the Olympics | publisher = The Age (Australia) | date =October 28 ,2006 | url = http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/the-day-the-cold-war-came-to-the-olympics/2006/10/27/1161749315713.html | accessdate = 2006-12-17] 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 andQuentin Tarantino asexecutive producer s. The film dramatizes theHungarian Revolution of 1956 and climaxes with thewater 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. [cite news|url = http://www.freedomsfury.net/press-kit/FFIndependent12-6-6.html | |publisher = "The Independent"|date =2006-12-02 |author = Mike Rowbottom|title=Ervin Zador: Blood in the water (interview)|accessdate=2007-12-24]Mark Spitz , who narrates "Freedom's Fury", was coached by Zádor as a young man. [Radio Free Europe: [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/05/0e5164bb-fd53-4562-88c5-9aac69e5845c.html Hungary: New Film Revisits 1956 Water-Polo Showdown] Retrieved 13 September 2006]Ervin Zádor currently lives in
Linden, California .Notes
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