Hungarian · Budapest, Hungary · Born 16 August 1974Hungarian backstroke specialist who became only the second swimmer after Dawn Fraser to win the same individual event at three consecutive Olympic Games.
Born in Budapest on 16 August 1974, Krisztina Egerszegi began swimming at age four and made her international debut at the 1987 European Championships. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, aged just 14 years and 41 days, she won the 200m backstroke to become the youngest female Olympic swimming champion in history, a record that stood until Kyoko Iwasaki broke it in 1992. Her finest Games came at Barcelona 1992, where 'the Little Mouse', as she was affectionately known in Hungary, won three individual gold medals — the 100m and 200m backstroke and the 400m individual medley — the most individual golds by any woman at those Games. She set world records in both backstroke events at the 1991 European Championships, with her 200m mark standing for almost 17 years. Egerszegi returned for a third Olympics at Atlanta 1996, successfully defending her 200m backstroke title for a third consecutive Games — a feat matched at the time only by Dawn Fraser in the 100m freestyle, and since matched by Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky. She also won bronze in the 400m individual medley before retiring immediately afterward. Egerszegi finished her Olympic career with seven medals (five gold, one silver, one bronze) and remains the only woman to win five individual Olympic gold medals in swimming. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and received Hungary's Prima Primissima Award in 2007.
Won 200m backstroke at three consecutive Olympics (1988, 1992, 1996); youngest-ever Olympic swimming gold medalist
How They Played
Technically precise backstroke and individual medley specialist
Lasting Impact
The only woman to win five individual Olympic gold medals in swimming
Career Honours
- Olympic 200m backstroke champion 1988, 1992, 1996
- Olympic 100m backstroke and 400m IM champion 1992
Hungarian Athletes