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| Nationality |  Hungary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1975-01-30)30 January 1975 (age 50) Miskolc, Hungary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 195 cm (6 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 120 kg (265 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wrestling | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Style | Greco-Roman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | 2.png) DVTK (2009- )[1] Vasas SC (2001-2008) Kecskeméti TE (2000)Szegedi BE (1996-2000) Diósgyőri BC ( -1996) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Attila Repka[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Mihály Deák-Bárdos (born 30 January 1975) is a Hungarian amateurGreco-Roman wrestler, who played for the men's super heavyweight category.[1][2] He is a four-time Olympian, and a six-time medalist at theEuropean Championships. Deák-Bárdos had also won a total of five silver medals at theWorld Championships, losing out to numerous top-level wrestlers includingAlexander Karelin,Rulon Gardner,Khasan Baroyev, andMijaín López, all of whom were Olympic champions in the same division.
Born inMiskolc Deák-Bárdos emerged as one of Hungary's most prominent wrestlers. He first competed at the 1993 European Youth Wrestling Championships inGötzis,Austria, where he finished in fourth place, for the 110 kg division. In 1997, Deák-Bárdos achieved his earliest success in wrestling, when he won the silver medal against three-time Olympic championAlexander Karelin at theWorld Championships inWrocław,Poland. After Karelin's retirement in 2000, Deák-Bárdos continued to build success in wrestling by capturing four medals for the super heavyweight division (120–130 kg) at theEuropean Championships, including his first-ever gold from Moscow. He managed to repeat his silver medal streak at the World Championships, when he lost the final match to United States'Rulon Gardner (2001) andDremiel Byers (2002), and to Russia'sKhasan Baroyev (2003), who succeeded Karelin to become an Olympic champion in 2004.[3][4]
Between 2005 and 2007, Deák-Bárdos, however, suffered numerous setbacks in his sporting career. He lost for the fourth time to Cuba'sMijaín López at the2005 World Wrestling Championships, coincidentally in his home city, and placed farther from the medal podium at the European Championships. In 2008, Deák-Bárdos recaptured his success in super heavyweight wrestling, after winning the silver medal for his team at the World Wrestling Cup inSzombathely. He also added two bronze medals at the European Championships inVilnius and inDortmund.[5]
In addition to his achievements at both the World and European championships, Deák-Bárdos became the first Hungarian wrestler to compete in four consecutive Olympic games sinceImre Polyák did so in1964. He made his official debut at the2000 Summer Olympics inSydney, where he competed in themen's 130 kg class. He placed second in the preliminary pool against Bulgarian wrestler and 1996 Olympic bronze medalistSergei Mureiko and Russia'sAlexander Karelin, who previously defeated him at the World Championships three years before, finishing overall in 11th position.[6][7]
After Karelin's retirement from his fourth Olympics, Deák-Bárdos' medal chances became more open by qualifying for the120 kg class at the2004 Summer Olympics inAthens. Once again, he repeated his position in the preliminary pool this time, against Finland's four-time OlympianJuha Ahokas and Iran'sSajjad Barzi, who eventually lost to defending Olympic championRulon Gardner in the bronze medal bout.[8][9]
At the2008 Summer Olympics inBeijing, Deák-Bárdos reached the second preliminary round of the120 kg class, by defeating Canadian wrestlerAri Taub, with a score of 6–2.[10][11] He lost to France's Yannick Szczepaniak, who was able to score one technical point each in the second par terre during the first and final period of the match.[12]
Deák-Bárdos qualified again for thesuper heavyweight division at his fourth Olympics inLondon, after placing fifth from the2011 World Wrestling Championships inIstanbul, Turkey.[13] He first defeated China'sLiu Deli in the qualifying round, before losing out his next match to Sweden'sJohan Eurén, who eventually won the bronze medal in this event.[14]
