Reka Zsofia Lazăr-Szabo (, born 11 March 1967) is a Romanian

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

fencer, bronze medallist in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

, World champion in 1994, and silver medallist at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Career

She is of Hungarian-ethnic background. Lazăr-Szabo began fencing when she was 7 years old at CS Tractorul in her hometown Brașov. Her elder brother already fenced there. When her father announced to coach Petre Dumitrescu he had to withdraw his son because he could not leave his daughter at home without supervision, Dumitrescu suggested he bring the girl as well. After a few weeks of watching her brother train, she took an interest in the sport. Her first coaches were Bogdan Pincovici, then Vlad Șerban. At the age of 12 she won her first national championship. In 1983 she won the Romanian Cup and joined the national senior team. The same year, she took part in her first international competition at the Minsk Junior World Cup. She ranked in the Top 16 at her first Junior World Championships in Leningrad. A year later, in 1985, she reached the final of the Junior World Championships in Arnhem and came away with a silver medal. She won the Junior World title in 1986 at Stuttgart. She made her Olympic début at Seoul 1988, but she was defeated in the second round in the individual event and in the first round in the team event. In 1989 she married

Vilmoș Szabo Vilmoș Szabo (, born 30 December 1964) is a retired Romanian sabre fencer. He competed at the 1984, 1992 and 1996 Olympics and won a team bronze medal in 1984. He is an ethnic Hungarian and he married Olympic foil medallist Reka Zsofia Laz� ...

, bronze medallist in men's team sabre at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

, also a member of the Hungarian minority in Romania. In the

in Atlanta she won a team bronze medal along with

Claudia Grigorescu Claudia Laura Grigorescu (later ''Vanţă'', born 6 January 1968) is a retired Romanian foil fencer who won a team bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics. She also won six medals at the world championships between 1987 and 1998, including a team gold ...

Elisabeta Guzganu-Tufan Elisabeta Guzganu-Tufan (née Tufan on 8 August 1964) is a retired Romanian foil fencer. She competed at the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympics and won a silver and a bronze team medal in 1984 and 1992, respectively. Her best individual result was fo ...

, Laura Badea and

Roxana Dumitrescu Roxana Daniela Dumitrescu (later ''Toader'', born 27 June 1967) is a retired Romanian foil fencer who won a team bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics. References External links * 1967 births Living people Romanian female fencers Olympic ...

. Her husband and her moved to Germany in 1993; he became a fencing coach at TSV Bayer

Dormagen Dormagen (; Ripuarian: ''Dormaje'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany in the Rhein-Kreis Neuss. Geography Dormagen is situated between Düsseldorf – Cologne – Mönchengladbach on the western bank of the river Rhine. Division of ...

, which became her club. She took the gold medal both in the individual and team events at the 1994 World Championships in Atlanta. Two years later, she earned a silver Olympic medal with the team. Lazăr-Szabo retired from competition in 2004, after 21 years spent in the national team, after missing the qualification for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. Her eldest son Matyas, born in 1991, took up fencing because their parents were always at the fencing hall; he is now a member of Germany's senior sabre team and won with them the 2014 World Championships. She stopped her coaching activities after her second son, Marc, was born. Lazăr-Szabo was inducted in 2013 in the Hall of Fame of the

International Fencing Federation The International Fencing Federation (''Fédération Internationale d'Escrime'') commonly known by the acronym FIE, is the international Sport governing body, governing body of Olympic Games, Olympic fencing. Today, its head office is at th ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazar-Szabo, Reka Zsofia 1967 births Living people Romanian female fencers Romanian sportspeople of Hungarian descent Olympic fencers for Romania Fencers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Romania Olympic bronze medalists for Romania Sportspeople from Brașov Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Romanian fencing coaches Summer World University Games medalists in fencing FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Romania 20th-century Romanian sportswomen