Fencing: I’m going to go for the missing titles! – Áron Szilágyi

– So off to Brisbane?
– It's not impossible at all – smiled Vasas SC's three-time Olympic champion Áron Szilágyi.

– We'd think that after making history in Tokyo by winning your third Olympic gold medal, you'd consider retiring.
– Quite the contrary: the bell has just rung – for the second act. The feeling in me is getting stronger, and the semi-final competition in Tokyo gave me a lot of strength and motivation to continue.

– Oh, and now we're talking about that weird, lost bout again...!
– This time I am not thinking about the defeat, but about standing next to the piste where Italian fencer Aldo Montano and my teammate Tamás Decsi were up against each other: the two of them were 80 years old together! What I saw there just inspired me. I'm thirty-one years old, I'll be thirty-four in Paris, and even in Brisbane I'll only be forty-two, so, there's more in me, I can feel it.

– This question often arises in this day and age, and we cannot avoid it this time either: will you stay in the sport because you cannot find your place elsewhere, or is it really because you still have great goals in fencing?
– I love the fencing room environment, I like to compete, and yes, I still have goals in the sport, so I don't see any reason to end my career. Of course, I'm already trying to build my post-fencing life. I went to universities for a reason, started working as a sports manager, so although carefully, but I'm already getting a taste of civilian life. However, fencing will remain the focus for quite some time to come.

– Will it be physically or mentally harder to continue?
– Mentally, there's no problem, I didn't have to convince myself to keep going because I really didn't think about finishing my sports career. On the other hand, I have to look after my physique and body, so that I don't get bothered by any injuries or that I don't gain weight, for example. I know when I'm done, I'm going to be a middle-aged fat man in no time... Men are vain, and so am I.

– Have you already grown a belly during your break?
– Even if it's not that, my body fat percentage certainly crept up a little. It's no problem, these few kilos aren't insurmountable, and it definitely inspires me to look in the mirror: Oh, I shall not look like this when I won the Olympics in Tokyo two months ago!

– Does it not encourage you that you're missing two out of the six titles that can be obtained?
– We were close to the Olympic team gold in Tokyo, but the individual world champion title is really missing. I have to reprogram what I think of the World Championships: I first competed in the World Championships in 2007. Then, we won a gold medal with the team, and in recent years we've been on the podium; however, I can only show one individual bronze from my ten world championship competitions. So, my experience at the World Championships and the memories from it are not positive at all, and I can't feed on them. In Tokyo, my Olympic memories clearly helped me, I recalled them out on the piste. If I had to end my career now, I'd feel complete, but I'm not closing it: I'm going to go for the titles I haven't won yet. I can envision that I'll win that individual World Championships gold.

– Do you reprogram yourself alone?
– Most of the time, yes, but of course my sports psychologist Viktória Faludi and my master, András Decsi, also help with this.

– So, we're talking about Brisbane, but are you, in reality, chasing the individual world champion title?
– That, too. Standing on a podium feels great; that's what attracts me. In addition to enjoying the daily tasks, my workouts, and every phase of preparation, I want to stand on the podium again and again. I also want to relive over and over again that I have medals put around my neck, that I am satisfied that I am achieving successes and that people are proud of me.

– It's like when a drug addict wants more and more doses.
– Yes, it's also an addiction, just the better kind. I don't feel the situation is pathological at all, I just like to compete, and I have a desire for the podium.

– With the teammates including András Szatmári, Csanád Gémesi and Tamás Decsi as well? So does the team keep going too?
– I felt some sort of hesitation on the part of Csanád and Tomi on the issue because besides being family men, they are already doing other things besides fencing. Csanád has already started fitness preparations, so I feel like he is serious about continuing. Tomi probably needs a longer break, but I hope we can count on him. I'd really like to see this foursome together until and for the next Olympics.

– How much does Áron Szilágyi rest?
– I've already started some kind of fitness training, which means I'm going to go to the gym and riding my bike. The international federation released its competition schedule draft a few days ago: there is a World Cup tournament in it this year, which I do not plan to participate in, but the federation expects a full season from January – so do I. So, let the continuation begin then!

Translated by: Vanda Orosz