Paul Karoly Pesthy | |
Birth Date: | 25 March 1938 |
Birth Place: | Budapest, Hungary |
Death Place: | San Antonio, Texas, United States |
Sport: | Modern pentathlon, Fencing |
Show-Medals: | yes |
Paul Karoly Pesthy (March 25, 1938 - October 28, 2008) was an American modern pentathlete and épée fencer. He was born in Hungary and emigrated to the United States in 1958.[1]
He was a member of the U.S. Olympic modern pentathlon team and won a silver medal in the team event at the 1964 Summer Olympics. He also qualified for the 1968 Olympic team.[2] He was USFA/AFLA national épée champion (1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1983) and was a member of the U.S. Olympic fencing team in 1964, 1968, 1976 and 1980. Although Pesthy qualified for the 1980 Olympic fencing team he did not compete due to the Olympic Committee's boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia. He was one of 461 athletes to receive a Congressional Gold Medal instead.[3] He won the World Team Bronze in 1962 and 1963. He was IFA épée champion (1964) and two-time NCAA épée champion in 1964 and 1965 for Rutgers University. He is a member of the United States Fencing Association Hall of Fame.