Quick Facts
Biography
Emese Hunyady (born 4 March 1966) is a former speed skater.
At age 10, Hunyady participated at the 1977 Hungarian Sprint Championships for Juniors, finishing sixth. Representing Hungary, she had her first international competition in 1979 and in the following years, although still a junior, she entered several senior tournaments. In 1985, after marrying her Austrian coach Thomas Nemeth, she obtained Austrian citizenship and started competing for Austria. The marriage was dissolved some years later, but she retained her Austrian citizenship.
During her 25-year-long career, she was a steady performer, almost always finishing in the top 10 of the events she participated in. Her best year was 1994, when she won bronze at the European Allround Championships, became World Allround Champion, won the 1500 m World Cup, and became Olympic Champion on the 1500 m, while winning Olympic silver on the 3000 m. After that, her successes became fewer, but in 1999, she surprisingly won the World Single Distance Championships on her favourite distance, the 1500 m.
Hunyady participated in six Winter Olympics from 1984 to 2002 and won a large number of Hungarian and Austrian National Allround, Sprint, and Single Distance Championships. She started her sporting career in figure skating, something she used to show when celebrating her victories as a speed skater.
Hunyady is married to Timo Järvinen, a former speed skater from Finland. They have a son, Jasper.
Medals
An overview of medals won by Hunyady at important championships she participated in, listing the years in which she won each:
| Championships | Gold medal | Silver medal | Bronze medal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympics | 1994 (1500 m) | 1994 (3000 m) | 1992 (3000 m) |
| World Allround | 1994 | 1992 1993 | – |
| World Sprint | – | – | – |
| World Single Distance | 1999 (1500 m) | – | 1996 (1000 m) 2000 (1500 m) |
| World Cup | 1994 (1500 m) | 1991 (1500 m) 1992 (1500 m) 1992 (3000 m / 5000 m) 1993 (1500 m) 1995 (1500 m) | 1990 (1500 m) 1993 (3000 m / 5000 m) 1998 (1500 m) |
| European Allround | 1993 | 1992 | 1994 |
| Austrian Allround | 1995 1996 1997 1999 2000 | – | – |
| Austrian Sprint | 2001 | – | – |
| Hungarian Allround | 1984 | 1985 | – |
| Hungarian Sprint | 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 | – | – |
World records
Over the course of her career, Hunyady skated one world record:
| Event | Result | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mini combination | 164.658 | 27 March 1994 | Calgary |
Personal records
To put these personal records in perspective, the last column (WR) lists the official world records on the dates that Hunyady skated her personal records.
| Event | Result | Date | Venue | WR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 m | 38.87 | 15 March 2001 | Calgary | 37.40 |
| 1000 m | 1:15.99 | 30 January 2000 | Calgary | 1:14.61 |
| 1500 m | 1:56.51 | 20 February 2002 | Salt Lake City | 1:54.38 |
| 3000 m | 4:06.55 | 10 February 2002 | Salt Lake City | 3:59.26 |
| 5000 m | 7:15.23 | 20 February 1998 | Nagano | 7:03.26 |
| Small combination | 164.885 | 7 February 1999 | Hamar | 163.020 |
Hunyady has an Adelskalender score of 162.320 points. Her highest position on the Adelskalender was a third place.