Hunyady, Emese (1967—)

Austrian speedskater. Born in Hungary in 1967; defected to Austria in 1985; married Thomas Nemeth (an Austrian speedskater).

Emese Hunyady gave up everything for her dream of winning a speedskating title; originally, her mother had a different plan for her daughter. When Hunyady was five, she was enrolled in a figure-skating program. She hated it. By age ten, she had traded in circles and loops for the speedskating straightaway. In 1984, she represented Hungary at the Sarajevo Olympics, finishing 13th in the 1,500 meters. One year later, in 1985, leaving family and friends behind, Hunyady defected from Hungary to follow her coach Kutas Balint to Austria. She obtained an Austrian passport by entering into an arranged marriage with Austrian speedskater Thomas Nemeth. Five years later, she broke with Balint. "All my life is speedskating," she told a reporter. "For so long a time, for many years, there was only speedskating and nothing else."

In 1992, in Albertville, France, Hunyady took the Olympic bronze medal in the 3,000-meters. In Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994, she was a silver medalist in the 3,000 meters and, against stellar opposition, took the gold medal in the 1,500 meters in 2:2.19, giving Austria its first speedskating gold medal. To do so, she topped the times of Bonnie Blair and Gunda Niemann . After kissing the ice, Hunyady reverted to figure skating, executing twists and turns on her victory lap. The public address announcer decreed: "Marks for artistic impression: 6.0."