Blood In The Water match
Encyclopedia
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
Melbourne-i vérfürdő, "Blood Bath" of Melbourne) was a water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
match between Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and the USSR at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics
Water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Ten nations competed in water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. The event was open only to men's teams.-Medallists:-Results:For the team rosters see: Water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics - Men's team squads.-Preliminary round:...
. The match, which took place on December 6, 1956, was against the background of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
1956 Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution or Uprising of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956....
and saw Hungary defeat the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
4–0. The name was coined after Hungarian player Ervin Zádor
Ervin Zador
Ervin Zádor is a Hungarian retired water polo player and former member of the Hungarian national team.-Career:At the age of 21 Zádor represented Hungary at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. He played four matches and scored five goals.The Soviet Union and Hungary fielded competitive water...
emerged during the last two minutes with blood pouring from under his eye after being punched by Soviet player Valentin Prokopov
Valentin Prokopov
Valentin Ivanovich Prokopov is a Russian water polo player who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1952 Summer Olympics and in the 1956 Summer Olympics. He is perhaps best remembered as the man who struck Hungarian player Ervin Zádor in the Blood in the Water match.In 1952 he was part of the...
.
Background
On October 23, 1956, a demonstration by students escalated into an uprising against the Soviet puppet government in Budapest. For a few days it appeared Hungary might free itself from the USSR. On November 1, however, Soviet tanks began rolling into Hungary and from November 4 to November 10 forces began suppressing the uprising with air strikes, artillery bombardments, and tank-infantry actions.At the time, the Hungarian water polo team was in a mountain training camp above Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. They were able to hear the gunfire and see smoke rising. The players were the defending Olympic champions; with the Summer Olympics in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
two months away, they were moved into Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
to avoid being caught in the revolution. The players only learned of the true extent of the uprising after arriving in Australia and they were all anxious for news of friends and family.
By the start of the Olympics, the uprising had been dealt with, and many players saw the Olympics as a way to salvage pride for their country. "We felt we were playing not just for ourselves but for our whole country" said Zádor after the match. The "Blood In The Water" match was played in front of a partisan
Partisan (political)
In politics, a partisan is a committed member of a political party. In multi-party systems, the term is widely understood to carry a negative connotation - referring to those who wholly support their party's policies and are perhaps even reluctant to acknowledge correctness on the part of their...
crowd bolstered with expatriate Hungarians (many of whom had been in the boxing arena before to see the Hungarian László Papp
László Papp
László Papp was a Hungarian boxer, born in Budapest. A southpaw, he won gold medals in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, and the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia...
win his third gold medal) as well as Australians and Americans who detested their Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
Soviet rivals.
The match
In the morning before the start, the Hungarians had evolved a strategy to taunt the Russians, whose language they had been forced to study in school. In the words of Zádor: "We had decided to try and make the Russians angry to distract them."From the beginning, kicks and punches were exchanged. At one point the Hungarian captain, Dezső Gyarmati
Dezso Gyarmati
Dezső Gyarmati is a former Hungarian water polo player and three times Olympic champion, and also a former coach of the Hungarian national water polo team.-Player career:...
, punched a Russian; it was caught on film. Meanwhile, the Hungarian Zádor scored two goals to 'Hajrá magyarok!' (Go Hungarians!) cheers of the crowd.
Hungary was leading 4–0 in the final minutes. Zádor was marking Valentin Prokopov
Valentin Prokopov
Valentin Ivanovich Prokopov is a Russian water polo player who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1952 Summer Olympics and in the 1956 Summer Olympics. He is perhaps best remembered as the man who struck Hungarian player Ervin Zádor in the Blood in the Water match.In 1952 he was part of the...
with whom he had verbal exchanges, such as abusing his family. Prokopov struck him, causing a bleeding gash. Zádor left the pool, and his bleeding was the final straw for a crowd already in frenzy. Many angry spectators jumped on to the concourse beside the water, shook their fists, shouted abuse and spat at the Russians. To avoid a riot, police entered the arena with one minute to go and shepherded the crowd away.
Pictures of Zádor's injuries were published around the world, leading to the "Blood in the Water" name, although reports that the water actually turned red were an exaggeration. Zádor said his only thought was whether he would be able to play the next match.
Hungary was declared the winner since they had been leading and then beat Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
2–1 in the final to win their fourth Olympic gold medal.
In film
In 2006, for the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution1956 Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution or Uprising of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956....
, a documentary Freedom's Fury
Freedom's Fury
Freedom's Fury is a documentary film about the Melbourne, Australia 1956 Summer Olympics semifinal water polo match between Hungary and the USSR, and the events that led up to the violent battle, the match that what would later be known as the "Blood in the Water match."The documentary was narrated...
told the story of the match. The film was produced by Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu
Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal , and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda.-Early...
and Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
, who described it as "the best untold story ever". The documentary was narrated by Mark Spitz
Mark Spitz
Mark Andrew Spitz is a retired American swimmer. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, an achievement only surpassed by Michael Phelps who won eight golds at the 2008 Olympics....
, who as a teenager had been coached by Ervin Zádor
Ervin Zador
Ervin Zádor is a Hungarian retired water polo player and former member of the Hungarian national team.-Career:At the age of 21 Zádor represented Hungary at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. He played four matches and scored five goals.The Soviet Union and Hungary fielded competitive water...
.
Also in 2006, a feature film about the match was released, entitled Children of Glory
Children of Glory
-Synopsis:Children of Glory commemorates Hungary's Revolution of 1956 and the Blood in the Water match. Taking place in Budapest and at the Melbourne Olympic Games in October and November of that year, the film takes viewers into the passion and sadness of one of the most dramatic popular revolts...
(Szabadság, szerelem in Hungarian, which means Freedom, love, after the lines of Sándor Petőfi
Sándor Petofi
Sándor Petőfi , was a Hungarian poet and liberal revolutionary. He is considered as Hungary's national poet and he was one of the key figures of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848...
, the martyred poet of the 1848–49 revolution
Hungarian Revolution of 1848
The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 was one of many of the European Revolutions of 1848 and closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas...
). The movie shows the Hungarian Revolution through the eyes of a player on the water polo team and a girl who is one of the student leaders. It was directed by Krisztina Goda, and produced by Andrew G. Vajna. The movie appeared in Hungarian cinemas on 23 October 2006, the 50th anniversary of the revolution. On 29 October 2006, it was shown at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
for President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and guests (including Hungarian figures such as George Pataki
George Pataki
George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Pataki served three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006.- Early life :...
, Governor of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and George A. Olah, Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winner).
The incident features in the 1978 Australian film Newsfront
Newsfront
Newsfront is a 1978 Australian drama film starring Bill Hunter, Wendy Hughes, and Bryan Brown, directed by Phillip Noyce. The screenplay is written by David Elfick, Bob Ellis, Philippe Mora, and Phillip Noyce. The original music score is composed by William Motzing...
.
External links
- Article in Radio Free Europe
- Article in New York Times
- Website on Hungarian 1956 Olympic team
- Report of the match at Stoneridge water polo website.
- Freedom's fury website