The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Slovakia

This page contains a list of the greatest Slovak Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 23 of which were born in Slovakia. This makes Slovakia the birth place of the 42nd most number of Athletes behind Denmark, and Mexico.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Slovak Athletes of all time. This list of famous Slovak Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Slovak Athletes.

1. Alajos Szokolyi (1871 - 1932)

With an HPI of 54.32, Alajos Szokolyi is the most famous Slovak Athlete. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages on wikipedia.

Alajos János Szokolyi (also referred to as Alajos Szokoly, Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈɒlɒjoʃ ˈsokoji]; Slovak: Alojz Sokol; 19 June 1871 – 9 September 1932) was a Hungarian athlete, sports organizer, sports manager, archivist and physician. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics, winning the bronze medal in 100 metres dash. In the same year he also won the first ever edition of the Hungarian Athletics Championships in 100 yards dash.

2. Vladimír Dzurilla (1942 - 1995)

With an HPI of 54.04, Vladimír Dzurilla is the 2nd most famous Slovak Athlete. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Vladimír Dzurilla (2 August 1942 in Bratislava, Slovakia – 27 July 1995 in Düsseldorf, Germany) was a Slovak ice hockey goaltender playing for Czechoslovakia. Dzurilla, a refrigerator repairman by profession, was goalie for the Czechoslovak national team for over 16 years, winning three gold, three silver and four bronze medals at world championships as well as one silver and two bronze Olympic medals. However, in most of these tournaments Dzurilla and Jiří Holeček were battling to be Czechoslovakia's top goaltender and each were given their share of games. For North American fans, he is mostly known for stopping 29 shots in a 1-0 win over Canada in the 1976 Canada Cup (where the Czechoslovaks finished second). Dzurilla was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1998. He suffered a fatal heart attack at his home in Düsseldorf, Germany on 27 July 1995, only days before his 53rd birthday.

3. Imre Németh (1917 - 1989)

With an HPI of 52.14, Imre Németh is the 3rd most famous Slovak Athlete. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Imre Németh (23 September 1917 – 18 August 1989) was a Hungarian hammer thrower. Németh was born in Kassa, Hungary (now Košice, Slovakia) in 1917. He won the gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain. He returned four years later to defend his title at the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland but failed, only managing to finish third for the bronze medal. Németh broke the world record on three occasions. On 14 July 1948 he threw 59.02 metres, beating Erwin Blask's official record from 1938 by two centimetres. (However, this was still inferior to Pat O'Callaghan's unratified record of 59.56, dating back to 1937.) On 4 September 1949 Németh improved the world mark to 59.57, beating both the official and the unofficial record. Finally, on 19 May 1950 Németh threw 59.88 m in Budapest. Németh died in Budapest in 1989. His son, javelin thrower Miklós Németh, also won an Olympic gold medal.

4. József Csermák (1932 - 2001)

With an HPI of 48.28, József Csermák is the 4th most famous Slovak Athlete. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

József Csermák (14 February 1932 – 12 January 2001 in Tapolca) was a Hungarian hammer thrower. He won the gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics with a throw of 60.34 m, setting a new world record and becoming the first athlete to break the 60 m barrier. At the next Olympics Csermák was chosen as the Olympic flag bearer for Hungary, but placed only fifth. He failed to reach the final at the 1960 Olympics. Besides his 1952 Olympic gold medal, Csermák won four Hungarian titles and a bronze medal at the 1954 European Championships.

5. Pavel Schmidt (1930 - 2001)

With an HPI of 47.83, Pavel Schmidt is the 5th most famous Slovak Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Pavel Leo Edmund Schmidt (9 February 1930 – 14 August 2001) was a Slovak rower who competed for Czechoslovakia, mostly in the double sculls together with Václav Kozák. They won a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and two medals at European championships in 1959 and 1961, and placed fourth at the 1962 World Rowing Championships. After retiring from competitions, Schmidt became a rowing coach, and in 1967–68 trained the Mexico national team. After that he did not return to Czechoslovakia, but settled in Switzerland together with his family. There he worked as a psychiatrists and as a coach at the Biel sports school.

6. Ferenc Sidó (1923 - 1998)

With an HPI of 47.34, Ferenc Sidó is the 6th most famous Slovak Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Ferenc Sidó (18 April 1923 in Pata – 6 February 1998 in Budapest) was an ethnic Hungarian international table tennis player from Slovakia.

7. Béla Szepes (1903 - 1986)

With an HPI of 44.12, Béla Szepes is the 7th most famous Slovak Athlete. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Béla Szepes (né Strauch; September 5, 1903, Igló – June 20, 1986, Budapest) was a Hungarian skier, athlete, graphic designer and journalist. He competed at the 1924 Winter Olympics and won the silver medal in the javelin throw in the 1928 Summer Olympics. He captured seven Hungarian Athletics Championships and three British Athletics Championships titles. Later Szepes had a successful career as a graphic artist, becoming an influential sports cartoonist in Hungary.

8. Dušan Pašek (1960 - 1998)

With an HPI of 43.28, Dušan Pašek is the 8th most famous Slovak Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Dušan Pašek (7 September 1960 – 15 March 1998) was a Czechoslovak and Slovak professional ice hockey forward who played 48 games in the National Hockey League with the Minnesota North Stars. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1977 to 1993, was mainly spent with Slovan Bratislava in the Czechoslovak Extraliga. He won a silver medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and represented Czechoslovakia at three Canada Cups. He also won a gold medal at the 1985 World Ice Hockey Championships. Pašek was president of the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation when he committed suicide by gunshot on 15 March 1998. Reasons for his death are unknown. His son, Dušan Pašek, also committed suicide (by hanging) in November 2021.

9. Jozef Pribilinec (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 42.56, Jozef Pribilinec is the 9th most famous Slovak Athlete. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Jozef Pribilinec (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈjɔzef ˈpribiliɲets]; born 6 July 1960) is a Slovak track and field athlete who mainly competed in racewalking. He was born in Kopernica. Pribilinec competed for the former Czechoslovakia at the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea where he won the gold medal in the men's 20 kilometre walk event. He represented Czechoslovakia for most of his career and in addition to his Olympic gold, won two silver medals at the World Championships in Athletics (1983 and 1987) and one gold and one silver at the European Athletics Championships for his country. He was a two-time champion at the European Athletics Indoor Championships, winning in 1987 and 1988 over distances of 3000 m and 5000 m, respectively. He was a four-time participant at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup and his best performance was a win over 20 km at the 1983 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, becoming his country's first victor at the competition. He had previously shown his developing talent as a youngster with a win at the 1979 European Athletics Junior Championships. His personal best time of 1:19:30 hours for the 20 km race was a world record from 24 September 1983 to 3 May 1987. This continued a tradition of Czechoslovak record holders, following in the steps of Václav Balšán and Josef Doležal. Before retiring, he represented Slovakia at the 1993 World Championships in Athletics, placing 17th in the men's 20 km walk.

10. Imrich Bugár (b. 1955)

With an HPI of 42.48, Imrich Bugár is the 10th most famous Slovak Athlete. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Imrich Bugár (Hungarian: Bugár Imre, born 14 April 1955) is a Czechoslovak discus thrower. An ethnic Hungarian who represented Czechoslovakia and then the Czech Republic, his career highlights include an Olympic silver medal from 1980, a European Championship title from 1982 and a gold medal in the inaugural World Championships in 1983. His personal best throw of 71.26 metres puts him tenth in the all-time performers list.

People

Pantheon has 54 people classified as Slovak athletes born between 1871 and 2001. Of these 54, 46 (85.19%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Slovak athletes include Jozef Pribilinec, Imrich Bugár, and Michal Martikán. The most famous deceased Slovak athletes include Alajos Szokolyi, Vladimír Dzurilla, and Imre Németh. As of April 2024, 31 new Slovak athletes have been added to Pantheon including Pavel Schmidt, Ferenc Sidó, and Dušan Pašek.