Mihaly Igloi - Heritage
Plaque name: Mihály Iglói
Location: Hungarian Athletics Association, House of Hungarian Sports, Budapest, Istvánmezei út 1-3, 1146 Hungary
Plaque awarded: 14/04/2023
Reason: Plaque Category – Legend
In his time as a track coach at the celebrated Honved Sports Club in the Kispest district of Budapest, Mihaly Igloi developed into one of the finest middle and long distance running gurus of all-time.
Igloi, who was born in Hungary’s capital city in 1908, was the driving force behind Tabori, Sandor Iharos, Istvan Rozsavolyi, the ‘Magnificent Magyar’ middle distance trio who made a major mark on the world record book in the mid-1950s.
His influence, however, spread beyond his homeland. Under his guidance, the US runner Jim Beatty became the first sub four-minute miler indoors in 1962 and the fast-finishing Bob Schul, also of the USA, won Olympic 5000m gold in Tokyo two years later.