# Emese Szász-Kovács

Emese Szász (pronounced; born 7 September 1982) is a Hungarian left-handed épée fencer, three-time Olympian, and 2016 individual Olympic champion.

## Career

Szász's first sport was swimming, but she grew tired of it. She did not think she would succeed in a ball game, being left-handed, so she took on fencing. Her first coaches were György Felletár and Béla Kopetka. She joined the junior national Hungarian team, with which she won a gold medal at the 1998 Junior World Championships in Valencia and a silver medal at the 1999 edition in Keszthely.
She began the 2013–14 season by winning gold in the 2013 World Combat Games in Saint-Petersburg, defeating in the final world champion Julia Beljajeva.

## Medal Record
### Olympic Games

| Year | Location | Event | Position |
| 2016 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Individual Women's Épée | 1st |

### World Championship

| Year | Location | Event | Position |
| 2005 | Leipzig, Germany | Team Women's Épée | 2nd |
| 2006 | Turin, Italy | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 2010 | Paris, France | Individual Women's Épée | 2nd |
| 2013 | Budapest, Hungary | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |

### European Championship

| Year | Location | Event | Position |
| 2007 | Ghent, Belgium | Team Women's Épée | 2nd |
| 2013 | Zagreb, Croatia | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 2013 | Zagreb, Croatia | Team Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 2015 | Montreux, Switzerland | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 2016 | Toruń, Poland | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 2017 | Tbilisi, Georgia | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |

### Grand Prix

| Date | Location | Event | Position |
| 05/12/2006 | Barcelona, Spain | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 06/16/2006 | Havana, Cuba | Individual Women's Épée | 1st |
| 01/19/2007 | Budapest, Hungary | Individual Women's Épée | 2nd |
| 02/09/2007 | Rome, Italy | Individual Women's Épée | 2nd |
| 01/18/2008 | Budapest, Hungary | Individual Women's Épée | 1st |
| 01/16/2009 | Budapest, Hungary | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 02/06/2009 | Rome, Italy | Individual Women's Épée | 1st |
| 01/23/2010 | Doha, Qatar | Individual Women's Épée | 2nd |
| 02/19/2010 | Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 05/28/2010 | Montreal, Canada | Individual Women's Épée | 2nd |
| 06/11/2011 | Nanjing, China | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 02/25/2012 | Budapest, Hungary | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 05/23/2013 | Havana, Cuba | Individual Women's Épée | 2nd |
| 05/22/2014 | Havana, Cuba | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 12/06/2014 | Doha, Qatar | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 05/26/2017 | Bogotá, Colombia | Individual Women's Épée | 1st |
| 05/25/2018 | Cali, Colombia | Individual Women's Épée | 1st |

### World Cup

| Date | Location | Event | Position |
| 05/01/2004 | Mödling, Austria | Individual Women's Épée | 2nd |
| 05/14/2004 | Legnano, Italy | Individual Women's Épée | 2nd |
| 03/03/2007 | Tauberbischofsheim, Germany | Individual Women's Épée | 1st |
| 05/26/2007 | Sydney, Australia | Individual Women's Épée | 1st |
| 01/26/2008 | Prague, Czech Republic | Individual Women's Épée | 1st |
| 02/16/2008 | Barcelona, Spain | Individual Women's Épée | 2nd |
| 03/07/2009 | Tauberbischofsheim, Germany | Individual Women's Épée | 1st |
| 03/27/2010 | Luxembourg | Individual Women's Épée | 1st |
| 06/24/2011 | Sydney, Australia | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 03/01/2013 | Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France | Individual Women's Épée | 2nd |
| 02/07/2014 | Leipzig, Germany | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 03/07/2014 | Barcelona, Spain | Individual Women's Épée | 1st |
| 05/16/2014 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Individual Women's Épée | 2nd |
| 11/14/2014 | Xuzhou, China | Individual Women's Épée | 1st |
| 10/24/2014 | Legnano, Italy | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 10/23/2015 | Legnano, Italy | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 01/20/2017 | Barcelona, Spain | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |
| 10/20/2017 | Tallinn, Estonia | Individual Women's Épée | 3rd |

## Awards

* Hungarian Fencer of the Year (5): 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
* Honorary Citizen of Zugló (2016)

### Orders and special awards

* Order of Merit of Hungary – Officer's Cross (2016)