Bence Bicsák

Bence Bicsák (born 19 October 1995) is a Hungarian professional triathlete and double Olympian. He was a member of the Hungarian 2020 Olympic Triathlon team and competed in the men's individual event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Summer Games where placed 7th, the highest placing Olympic triathlon finish by a Hungarian. He was also selected to compete in the men's individual event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris , where he finished in 16th place out of 55 Olympians who started the race. Additionally, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Bicsák competed in the inaugural Triathlon - Mixed-Relay event. The Hungarian team composed of two men and two women finished in 11th position.

Bicsák competes within the top-tier World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) and also at numerous World Triathlon Cups. As of 22 July 2024, World Triathlon reports that Bence Bicsák had 98 Starts, 21 Podium finishes, and 11 Wins.

Before 2023, no Hungarian triathlete had ever been ranked higher than Bence Bicsák by World Triathlon. Csongor Lehmann obtained a higher ranking by the end of 2023.

Since 2014, Bicsák's race results have brought him much national attention. As a triathlete, he has been a member of the PSN zrt (Pécsi Sport Nonprofit) triathlon team since 2015. The PSN zrt team is based in the city of Pécs where Bence Bicsák resided until 2022 and where he completed his university degree. He graduated with a Major in Business Administration and Management from the university of Pécs, (Pécsi Tudományegyetem).

Prior to July 2022, Bicsák routinely trained with and competed against fellow Hungarian team member Faldum Gábor. Faldum was an Olympic triathlete at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. Prior to July 2022, as part of the Hungarian National team, Bicsák attended foreign training camps where he trained and competed with 2016 and 2020 Olympic triathlete Támas Tóth.

Childhood and early life Bence Bicsák was an active child who loved to play outside and enjoyed hobbies and new sports. Running, swimming, cycling, soccer, basketball were some of the sports that gave him pleasure. When he was around 7 or 8 years old, he practiced swimming a few times per week. He did not enjoy it much, was not successful in competitions, but his parents persuaded him to continue. In the meantime, he continued with other sports.

When he was around 11 or 12 years old, his parents, who ran as a hobby, took the young Bence Bicsák to a race. The race gave him enjoyment.

A local coach, István Góczán, of the Triathlon Association in Zalaegerszeg contacted Bicsák and asked him to participate in an aquathlon competition. Aquathlon is a race combining swimming and running. Bence did well in the swim and ran his way up to finish first. To his surprise, Bence had earned a gold medal. He had never won a running race before. The race was the spark that set him on an exceptionally long and challenging path to eventually becoming a top-10 triathlete. When he was 15 years old, Bicsák decided to take up the sport of triathlon. At some point, István Góczán asked the young Bence Bicsák at what age he wanted to reach his top performance level, physically and mentally. Bence Bicsák's answer was "between 25 and 28". In their teens, Bence and Flora would often train together. Flora competed in the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games.

Bence Bicsák's parents are both medical doctors, and as a hobby they practiced the sport of half-marathon for numerous years.

On 1 September 2012, in Aguilas, Spain, he and his Hungarian teammates won a silver medal at the ETU Triathlon U23 and Youth European Championships Youth Relay.

Bicsák was a member of the Triathlon Club of Zalaegerszeg and trained with the Mogyi SE Baja-Pécs team (now known as Mogyi SE Baja team) during the summer of 2012.

2013: First Hungarian to qualify for the World Championships In 2013, Bicsák competed in 6 triathlon events. He won one Gold. Overall, in 25% of the events, he placed within the top 10.

He became the first Hungarian to qualify for the World Championships. The experience gained by Bicsák at the Grand Final event in London, was significant. Jacob Birtwhistle, Tyler Mislawchuk, and Kristian Blummenfelt who would each hold a top-10 Olympic Qualification ranking in 2020 and 2021 were also present at the Grand Final.

Despite his Junior age, on 21 July 2013, he competed for the first time in the Elite Men category during the 2013 Tartu ITU Sprint Triathlon European Cup. He placed 21st out of 47 competitors. Bence Bicsák time was 00:57:28, Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway came in first with a time of 00:55:36.

In 2013, he placed first at the Hungarian Triathlon Junior National Championships, he also won a gold medal in the Hungarian National Duathlon Championship.

In 2014, and for the second year in a row, Bence Bicsák won a gold medal in Hungary's National Sprint Distance Duathlon Championship. During the same year, his younger sister, Flora Bicsák, also won a gold medal at the National Duathlon Championships of Hungary. Dr. Lajos Bicsák, the athlete's dad, graduated from the same school in 1983. His younger sister Flora would also graduate from the same school in 2016.

In January 2014. Bence Bicsák signed on as a triathlete of the Mogyi SE Baja-Pécs team.

2015: Bicsák’s development draws much attention In 2015, PSN Zrt Sportiskola (PSN Ltd. Sports School in Pécs) established a new triathlon department led by Toth Szilard. As department head and coach, Szilárd and many of his dedicated staff members provided Bence Bicsák and nearly forty other Hungarian triathletes with excellent training conditions and significant support. PSN zrt. has 14 sports departments, and significant sports facilities.

2015 was the first year that Bence Bicsák competed as an adult and within the U23 (Under 23 years old) triathlon category. He also began racing the Olympic distance (1.5 km swim, 40 km bike, and 10 km run), a race format twice as long as most of his previous races. Similarly, later in May, and despite having raced for four consecutive weekends, Bicsák won Gold for the third year in a row in Tiszaújváros Sprint Distance triathlon. In September, he won gold in Slovenia with approximately a 2-minute lead.

In June 2016, and despite fighting a viral infection, Bicsák finished 8th at the U23 Triathlon European Championships in Bulgaria, which earned him the qualification rights for the important U23 World triathlon Championships in Mexico.

Described as his breakthrough by World Triathlon, on 7 September 2016, Bence Bicsák earned a Bronze at the 2016 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Cozumel U23. The podium finish at the Grand Final was against many competitors that held Olympic caliber places in the rankings. His Bronze was remarkable in that he ranked 33rd before the start of the race. After the race, and in the Adult category, Bicsák held the 138th position, a substantial leap from the 360th position he occupied at the beginning of the same year.

2017: Wins his first World Triathlon Cup For 2017, the World Triathlon rankings database indicates that Bence Bicsák competed in 11 triathlon events and won gold in four of them.

In recognition of his excellent results and progress in 2016, in January 2017, Bence Bicsák was awarded by the Hungarian Triathlon Foundation for the second time. The Foundation awarded Bicsák the first award in 2014. Among the other training activities, and compared to Hungary's climate in the winter, the more favorable environment in the Canary Islands made it possible for Bicsák to bicycle 800 kilometers in two weeks. There was much chaos in the swim portion of the race. He exited the water 12th, reached the breakaway bike group in the first 10 km of the bike segment, and powered during his run to a 4th-place finish for his first competition of 2017.

On 22 April 2017, Bence Bicsák finished won gold at the Hungarian Sprint Duathlon National Championships held in Balatonboglar.

On 4 June 2017, Bence Bicsák finished 9th in the Cagliari ITU Triathlon World Cup Elite event. The event marked the second time that Bicsák finished in the top ten in a World Cup, and as a result, he ranked 66th place in the world ranking.

On 22 July 2017, Bence Bicsák wins his first World Triathlon Cup at the 2017 Tiszaújváros ITU Triathlon World Cup Elite event. Bicsák won Gold by arriving at the finish line 15 seconds before the three-time Olympian Dmitry Polyanski and thus earning for Hungary the second-ever gold medal in a Triathlon World Cup. After the European Championship event, Bicsák held 47th place in the world rankings. Bence Bicsák's coach, Szilárd Tóth, was acknowledged as Coach of the Year in the same ceremony. The WTS is where the best in the world compete; this Bicsák's second participation in the WTS. After the race, the then two-time World Champion and two-time Olympian Mario Mola shook Bicsák's hand to acknowledge Bicsák notable accomplishment. The Yokohama WTS was the first of forty triathlon Olympic Qualification events for the 2020 Games. The top 12 results determine the Olympic Qualification rankings. ITU Triathlon World Cup events have a maximum of 75 competitors. However, ITU Triathlon World Series (WTS) has only 55 competitors, and many top-10 in the rankings tend to be present. A week later, after the ITU World Triathlon Montreal Elite event, he ranked 6th.

On 14 September 2018, at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Gold Coast U23 event, Bence Bicsák won Bronze sharing the podium with Tayler Reid and Samuel Dickenson.

Reflecting on the 2018 triathlon competition year, Bence Bicsák stated, "These results are noteworthy because no Hungarian triathlete has made (it) to the top 10 so far, and this was only my first year to race in world-level competitions."

At the end of 2018, his first year competing in the top-tier World Triathlon Series (WTS), Bence Bicsák ranked 23rd.

2019 For 2019, the World Triathlon rankings database indicates that Bence Bicsák competed in 11 triathlon events and won two Bronze. Overall, he placed within the top 10 in 64% of the races. His race result propelled him to 11th place in the World Triathlon Series Rankings, overtaking a two-time Olympian in the process. Post-race, Bicsák's performance captured the attention of the then five-time world champion triathlete legend.

On 18 May 2019, at the ITU World Triathlon Yokohama Elite event, Bicsák finished 3rd. Bicsák overtook the five-time world champion and Olympic Silver medalist Javier Gomez by 12 seconds to earn the Bronze. Furthermore, Bicsák shared the podium with the #1 ranked triathlete Vincent Luis and Olympic medalist Henri Schoeman. After one hour, forty-three minutes, and 26 seconds of racing, Bicsák was a mere five seconds from the Gold and 1 second from the Silver. The result of the race placed Bicsák at 6th place in the Olympic Qualification rankings and 12th in the World rankings.

On 6 July 2019, there was a multiple cyclist crash during the Hamburg Wasser World Triathlon Elite event. Due to crashes in front of him,he violently came into contact with a metal crowd barrier at fast speed. He was ejected into the air as his bicycle came to a sudden and complete stop. As a result, an injured Bence Bicsák needed transportation to a hospital.

Unfortunately, the accident in Hamburg made it impossible for him and the Hungarian team to compete in the Triathlon team-relay race on the following day. Fortunately, there were no fractures or significant tears.

The Tokyo event occurred only 41 days after Bicsák's significant crash and injury in Hamburg. After a challenging swim, Bicsák caught up to the lead peloton but was involved in a mass bike crash. He recovered from the crash and, due to his remarkable running performance, managed to finish 7th. Bicsák would later state that "… only a podium finish would have made me happy! It would have been more realistic to just give up at that point considering the mental state I was in." Two days later, the Hungarian mixed-relay team, of which Bicsák is a member, finished 9th. Despite the physical injuries sustained in Hamburg 41 days prior,Bence Bicsák secured his top-10 Olympic Qualification ranking.

On 7 September 2019, at the Banyoles ITU Triathlon World Cup event, Bicsák closed the triathlon racing season by finishing 3rd. Bicsák's comeback performance in Banyoles was as "astonishing." Bicsák was 17 seconds away from the Silver obtained by the 5 -time World Champing Mario Mola and 19 seconds away from the Gold won by then-current World Champion Vincent Luis.

2019 was Bence Bicsák's most challenging year of his life. However, Bicsák expressed that all athletes who make it to the Olympic games stand a medal chance regardless of how high their Olympic Qualification ranking is. However, COVID-19 restrictions closed or severely limited access to the training venues essential to keeping an elite athlete at their best performance level.

Due to not knowing when the international competition season could begin, elite triathletes competed primarily domestically when they could, at amateur events, and under COVID-19 restrictions. Bicsák's first such event was the eXtremeMan 2020 amateur event near Kaposvár. The Olympic distance event was Bicsák's first race in ten months. He came in first beating in the process two of his fellow National Team members. However, Bicsák's goal was not to defeat his competitors but to "promote each other's training" and determine his mental state.

On 5 September 2020, at the Hamburg Wasser World Triathlon Elite event, Bence Bicsák finished 14th. He was "somewhat frustrated." With regards to the event, Bicsák stated what follows. "The race in Hamburg was a significant one not only in terms of the coming year but also my career as a whole because this is the only means to achieve mental training."

On 13 September 2020, at the Karlovy Vary ITU Triathlon World Cup Elite event and recovering from a minor hit by a motorcycle cameraperson, Bence Bicsák finished 5th. Unfortunately for Bicsák, the motorcycle made a turn while Bicsák was attempting to pass. Bicsák was slightly hurt, but "quite a few contestants" passed him when he stopped to go around the motorcycle. In 2020, this was the only World Cup where Bicsák could compete. At the Karlovy Vary event, Bicsák's national teammate Márk Dévay was injured in a bike crash and required hospitalization during the race. Uncertainty of the first WTCS race in Chengdu, the moving of the Montreal event and Adu Dhabi even t dates made travel and logistics planning a challenge.

In a parallel triathlon competition series, the pandemic also played havoc with the 2021 Triathlon World Cup schedule. The cancelation of the 2021 Osaka Triathlon World Cup and the changed date of the Huatulco Triathlon World Cup signaled that the 2021 World Cup season might continue to have significant disruptions.

Due to COVID-19, the pre-Olympic 2021 triathlon season was exceptionally challenging for many elite triathletes trying to regain their peak performance. In four out of five 2021 pre-Olympic game events, Bence Bicsák finished well below his typical performance levels. However, on 13 June 2021, Bence Bicsák achieved a gold medal finish at the Grand-Prix triathlon event in Dunkirk.

As a member of the Hungarian 2020 Olympic Triathlon team, Bence Bicsák competed in the men's individual event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Summer Games. He placed 7th out of 51 Olympians that started the race. at the 2000 Sydney Olympic games.

In July 2022, "in consultation with his coach, Szilárd Tóth, and the management of PSN Zrt, "Bence Bicsák accepted an invitation to join the JFTcrew Elite Squad, with Joel Filliol as the lead coach. Joel Filliol (Canadian) "is widely regarded as one of the best", having "worked with a number of national federations in various positions." Szilárd Tóth was Bicsák's primary coach until July 2022, was and still is the head of the PSN Triathlon Department, which has nearly 50 staff members. Szilárd Tóth is the coach of the triathlete Bence Mocsári (Hungary), a para-athlete officially selected for the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

2024: Paris Olympics Font-Romeu's high-altitude training camp in the French Pyrenees is at 1,850 meters and is within 190 km of Girona. Since joining JFTcrew, much training has occurred there. In June 2024, in preparation for the Paris Olympics, Bence Bicsák stated that he would spend about five weeks at a high-altitude training camp.

There were high expectations from the Hungarian Triathlon Association for the Paris Olympics. In the context of Bence's Bicsak's 7th-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics, Zsanett Kuttor-Bragmayer's 12th-place finish, and the upcoming first-time presence of Csongor Lehmann at an Olympic event, Gábor Kindl, president of the Hungarian Triathlon Association, stated, "If everything comes together, the team may even bring home a medal. It would be a huge success." World Triathlon Individual Olympic Qualification Ranking 29 World Ranking 35 World Triathlon Championship Series Ranking 58 Continental Ranking 21 98 Starts, 21 Podiums, 11 Wins

Post 2020 Summer Olympics triathlon competitions in Tokyo (held in 2021), on 28 July 2021, the rankings of Bence Bicsák were; 2020 Tokyo Olympics Triathlon Men's individual event 7th World Triathlon Championship Series Ranking 17th Continental Ranking 15th 76 Starts, 14 Podiums, 8 Wins

Endorsements As a top-10 triathlete, Bence Bicsák has been able to obtain sponsorship from significant global corporate entities. The professional video featuring Bence Bicsák in their pre-Olympic Games "For The Moment" campaign illustrated well the marketing attention that Bicsák received.

As of 3 May 2021, Bence Bicsák had the following corporate sponsors; Trek, E.ON, Mizuno, Pécs Brewery, Oakley, Toyota, Garmin and High5.

Career statistics The following list is based upon the official World Triathlon rankings and the Athletes' Profile Page 2019-08-31 29 Lausanne ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Elite Men 1:55:37 2019-09-07 3 Banyoles ITU Triathlon World Cup Elite Men 0:50:18 2020-09-05 14 Hamburg ITU Triathlon World Championships Elite Men 0:49:52 2020-09-06 12 Hamburg ITU Triathlon World Championships Mixed Relay 0:19:06 2020-09-13 5 Karlovy Vary ITU Triathlon World Cup Elite Men 1:53:06 2021-04-18 23 Melilla Europe Triathlon Cup Elite Men 00:51:16 2021-05-15 39 Yokohama World Triathlon Championship Series Elite Men 01:48:22 2021-05-21 DNF Lisbon World Triathlon Mixed Relay Olympic Qualification Event Mixed Relay 00:00:00 2021-05-22 37 Lisbon World Triathlon Cup Elite Men 01:44:59 2021-06-06 25 Leeds World Triathlon Championship Series Elite Men 01:47:20 2021-07-26 7 Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games; Men's IndividualStart list , Event environment , Start positions , Results , Event facts , Event analysis , Qualification ranking held at Odaiba Marine Park Men's Individual 01:45:56 2021-07-31 11 Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games; Mixed - RelayStart list , Event environment , Start positions , Team composition , Results, Event facts , Event analysis , Qualification ranking held at Odaiba Marine Park Triathlon - Mixed Relay 01:26:43