About
Karoly Takacs is one of only a few people in the world ever to win an Olympic medal with a physical disability. He harbored ambitions to win gold at the Olympics long before he finally could, but national bureaucracy, personal tragedy and war kept him waiting.
Story
Karoly Takacs was born on January 21,1910 in Budapest, Hungary.
Having joined the Hungarian Army after his studies he had become a prolific shooter by
his early 20s and won all the shooting competitions of that time.
Karoly Takacs had already reached the status of the best pistol shooter in the world
around the year 1936. with the 1936 Olympics in Berlin approaching, he would
have been a heavy favorite for gold.
Berlin, however, was not to be Takacs defining moment. Despite his prowess,
the policy of his country’s shooting team was only officers were allowed to compete,
and as Takacs had progressed to the rank of sergeant, he wasn’t available for selection.
Although Takacs missed an opportunity to represent his country, he was still only 26,
with plenty of time on his side. What’s more, Hungary changed their ruling and lifted
the ban on higher ranking officials after the Berlin games. Takacs was able to
compete in the next Olympics, scheduled for Tokyo in 1940.
People vouched for Takacs as the favorite to win the gold in the 1940 Tokyo Olympics.
But we know that
"Life is not as easy as it seems."
The major change in Takacs life came in 1938.
In 1938, during his army training, a faulty grenade exploded, blowing away his
hopes and dreams. The detonation did not kill him but injured his right hand to
the extent that he could not use it ever again.
Takacs spent a month in the hospital, devastated not just for the loss of his right hand but
also the dream of becoming the best shooter in the whole world, shattered into pieces.
At this time, he had 2 Options left :
-
To keep the goal in his mind and think about not achieving it and staying depressed over the same for his whole life .
-
The goal he had to keep it in mind and work on it with the same focus he had.
People would have probably spent the rest of their life feeling sorry for
themselves. Most people would have quit but not Takacs.
Instead of focusing on what he didn’t have - a world class right shooting hand,
he decided to focus on what he did have - a healthy left hand.
For months Takacs practiced by himself. No one knew what he was doing. Maybe he didn’t
want to subject himself to people who most certainly would have discouraged
him from his rekindled dream.
In the spring of 1939, the Hungarian National Pistol Championship took place.
When the other shooters saw that Karoly Takacs had arrived, they consoled him for his
loss and mentioned they were happy to see him show up to view the event.
To everyone’s surprise, Takacs said he was there not to spectate but participate.
All the Other shooters present at the event were competing with their best hand, but
Karoly was competing with his only hand.
After the event, guess who won !!
“The man with the only hand, karoly ”.
You must have heard this...
"YOU JUST CAN'T BEAT THE PERSON WHO NEVER GIVES UP."
But he didn’t stop there he knew his goal was clear, he knew that he wanted to make
his hand the best hand in the whole world.
So he shifted all his focus towards 1940 Olympics.
But unfortunately due to the outbreak of the World War 2 , the Olympics was cancelled.
So he shifted all his focus towards the 1944 Olympics.
But unfortunately, even the 1944 Olympics was cancelled due to the world war again.
By 1948, Takacs was 38.
In the Summer Olympics held in the 1948 in London,
he was no longer considered the favorite to win the event.
That year had a bunch of youngest and most talented shooters around the world.
All those young players were competing with their best hand, but Takacs was the one
competing with his only hand.
Takacs had been waiting well over a decade to compete on the biggest stage of them all.
The 25 metre rapid fire pistol event had a clear favorite, Carlos Enrique Díaz Sáenz Valiente
of Argentina. He was the reigning world champion and confident of victory.
During the competitionValiente asked Takacs why he was in London,
"I am here to learn" was the Takacs’s reply.
To everyone’s surprise, Takacs went on not only to bag the Gold medal but also set the
world record in the rapid-fire pistol event.
His moment of glory had arrived. His years of wait was finally over when he finally
stepped on to the podium. At that time, second-placed Valiente was standing, looking up
at Takacs. With his left hand, Takacs had won gold with a world-record score.
The Argentine turned to Takacs: “You have learned enough.”
But then also he didn’t stop, Again in the 1952 Olympics, he again entered in the competition
and guess who won again - “Karoly Takacs” .
He changed the whole history of the Olympics.
In that particular Competition of pistol shooting, nobody ever won
2 consecutive gold medals in the consecutive Olympics.
His never-ending effort for the piece of metal earned him a place in the
Olympics Heroes list of the International Olympic Committee.
Takacs went on to compete in Melbourne at the following Olympics in 1956,
but could only manage 8th rank. He was 46 at that time.
The Karoly Takacs was died on January 5, 1976 in Budapest, Hungary.
Takacs definitely had a right to feel sorry for himself. He had a right to stay depressed and
to ask himself “Why me?” for the rest of his life. He had the right to act like a mediocre man.
Takacs could have let his terrible accident cause him to become permanently discouraged,
to take up heavy drinking, and maybe even to end his own life.
When Takacs was injured, he could have believed that winning the championship again was impossible. If he did, his left hand would remain weak as before, all his life. But Takacs believed the opposite. He challenged himself that he has the ability to be the best even with his left hand. His mind believed and his body followed.
He could have acted like a loser.
But Karoly Takacs ended his career as the legend who never gave up.
When you believe you can achieve a goal, make it easy for yourself to chase it.
Mingle with people who chase massive goals. Stay away from negative people
who convince you that dreaming big is only for the extra-ordinary.
Yes, I do believe in The Law of Attraction of the Universe.
Karoly's story is very close to my heart. That's the only reason why
I am sharing this story with you all.
-Saurabh Tripathi
" If you have the ability to imagine it, the universe has the ability to give it to you. "