Tibor Benedek (12 July 1972 – 18 June 2020) was a Hungarian professional

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player and coach, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. He played on the gold medal squads at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

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 ...

and

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. Benedek also competed at the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

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, ...

, where the Hungarian team placed 6th and 4th, respectively. Benedek was the head coach of

Hungary men's national water polo team The Hungary men's national water polo team represents Hungary in international men's water polo competitions and is controlled by the Hungarian Water Polo Association. It is considered the world's List of water polo world medalists#Men's water pol ...

between 2013 and 2016. Benedek was named ''Hungarian Water Polo Player of the Year'' in 1992, 1993 and 1994. He made his debut for the national side in 1990. His father, Miklós Benedek, was an actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest water polo players of all time, Benedek ranks second on the all-time scoring list in Olympic history, with 65 goals. He was the joint top goalscorer at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, with 22 goals, and the top goalscorer at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, with 19 goals. Benedek is the ninth player to compete in water polo at five Olympics, and one of ten male athletes who won three Olympic gold medals in water polo. In 2016, he was inducted in the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

. Tibor Benedek died on 18 June 2020 due to pancreatic cancer. His death was announced by the Hungarian Water Polo Federation.

Honours

As player

National

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Gold medal –

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Gold medal –

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

;

Silver medal – 1998, 2007; Bronze medal world centered-2

Bronze medal – 1991 *

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

Gold medal –

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

;

Silver medal – 1993, 1995; Bronze medal europe

Bronze medal – 2001, 2003, 2008 * FINA World League: Gold medal blank

Gold medal –

;

Silver medal – 2007; Bronze medal blank

Bronze medal – 2002 * FINA World Cup: Gold medal blank

Gold medal –

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

;

Silver medal – 1993, 2002; Bronze medal blank

Bronze medal – 1997 384 present in the national team of Hungary * Junior World Championships: (Bronze medal – 1991) * Junior European Championship: (Bronze medal – 1990) * Youth European Championship: (Gold medal – 1989)

Club

Újpest * Hungarian Championship (4x): 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95 * Hungarian Cup (2x): 1990–91, 1992–93 *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

(1x): 1993–94 *

LEN Cup The European Aquatics Euro Cup is the second-tier European water polo club competition run by the European Aquatics for those clubs who did not qualify for the European Aquatics Champions League. The cup was inaugurated in 1992. From 2024, afte ...

(1x): 1992–93 *

LEN Super Cup The European Aquatics Super Cup is an annual water polo match organized by European Aquatics and contested by the reigning champions of the two most important European club competitions, the European Aquatics Champions League and the European A ...

(1x): 1994 Racing Roma * Scudetto

Italian Championship (1x): 1998–99 *

LEN Cup Winners' Cup The LEN Cup Winners' Cup was a European water polo club competition organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. National cup winners qualified for the tournament. After 2003, the nationalcup winners qualified for the LEN Euroleague, and the cup ...

''runners-up'': 1996–97 Pro Recco * Scudetto

Italian Championship (1x): 2001–02 * LEN Euroleague (1x): 2002–03 Bp. Honvéd * Hungarian Championship (3x): 2004–05, 2005–06 * Hungarian Cup (1x):

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

* Hungarian Super Cup (1x): 2005 Pro Recco * Scudetto

Italian Championship (5x): 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12 * Coccarda Coppa Italia

Italian Cup (4x): 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11 *

LEN Champions League The European Aquatics Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The competition started in 1963 as European Cup. A ...

(3x): 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12 *

(3x): 2007, 2008, 2010 *

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, ...

(1x): 2011–12

As head coach

(2013–2016) *

Gold medal –

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Silver medal – 2014; Bronze medal europe

Bronze medal – 2016 * FINA World League: Silver medal blank

Silver medal – 2013, 2014 * FINA World Cup: Silver medal blank

Silver medal – 2014

Awards

*''Total-waterpolo'' magazine's man water polo "World Player of the Year's2000–20" award *Member of the Best Team of the Year's in the World by ''total-waterpolo'' 2000–20 * Masterly youth athlete: 1991 * Hungarian Water Polo Player of the Year: 1992, 1993, 1994, 2002 * Member of the Hungarian team of year: 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008 * Honorary Citizen of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

(2008) * Hungarian head coach of the Year: 2013 * Member of

(2016) ;Orders * Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (2000) * Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (2004) * Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary with the Star (2008)

References

External links

*
Tibor Benedek
at kataca.hu {{DEFAULTSORT:Benedek, Tibor 1972 births 2020 deaths Water polo players from Budapest Hungarian male water polo players Water polo drivers Left-handed water polo players Water polo players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Hungary in water polo Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in water polo Hungarian water polo coaches Hungary men's national water polo team coaches Water polo coaches at the 2016 Summer Olympics Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Hungary 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen 21st-century Hungarian sportsmen

Honours

As player

National

Club

As head coach

Awards

See also

References

External links