| Pál Szekeres | |
| Honorific-Suffix: | MEP |
| Residence: | zuglo |
| Birth Date: | 22 September 1964 |
| Birth Place: | Budapest, Hungary[1] |
| Sport: | Fencing |
| Club: | Újpesti TE |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Pál Szekeres (born 22 September 1964) is a retired Hungarian foil and sabre fencer. He has the distinction of being the first person to have won medals at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.[2] [3] [4] [5]
Szekeres represented Hungary at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, and won a bronze medal in the team foil event.[3]
In 1991, he was injured in a bus accident, and used a wheelchair. He then took to wheelchair fencing. Described as "the most successful Paralympic athlete in Hungary",[3] he won a gold medal in foil at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, two gold at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, a bronze in 2000, 2004, and 2008. Outside the Paralympic Games, Szekeres participated in the Wheelchair Fencing World Cup in 2006, winning a bronze medal in the individual sabre event. He has also been European Champion, notably winning gold in the individual sabre event at the European Championships in 2007.[6] In 2008 he was ranked third in the world.[3]
From 1999 to 2005, Szekeres was deputy state secretary within the Ministry of Children, Youth and Sports.[3] He was also Ministerial Commissioner and Senior Programme Officer tasked with a government programme to provide "equal opportunity through sport for people living with disabilities".[7] From 1996 to 2000, he was a member of the Presidency of the International Wheelchair Fencing Committee.[4] From 2001 to 2005, he was "member at large" of the European Paralympic Committee, working in administration.[4] [8] In 2005, he became President of the Hungarian Sports Federation for the Disabled., Szekeres was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Paralympic Committee of Hungary, and was participating in the organising of the International Paralympic Sport Film Festival.[4]
Szekeres has a university degree in physical education as a coach, and also holds a degree in marketing communication.[4]