Hajnalka Kiraly

Hajnalka Kiraly-Picot (born March 2, 1971, in Veszprém) is a Hungarian-born French épée fencer. With Hungary she was three-time team World champion (1993, 1997, and 2002) and 2001 team European champion. With France, she won the team bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics as well as three team world titles (2005, 2007, and 2008).

Career

Kiraly began fencing at the age of 10 on a friend's suggestion. When she was 18 she joined Honvéd Budapest, the sports club of the Hungarian Defence Force. She won in 1991 the silver medal at the Junior World Championships in Istanbul. Two years she became a component of the national épée team along with Tímea Nagy, Ildikó Mincza-Nébald and Adrienn Hormay. She was selected for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, but only as a reserve. As such she did not live in the Olympic village and could not access the official ceremonies. Frustrated, she promised herself she would never be a reserve again. Her first competition under French colours was in Budapest, in front of her parents.

The 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens were Kiraly's first Games as a titular member of the team alongside Laura Flessel-Colovic, Maureen Nisima and Sarah Daninthe. In the individual event, she was defeated in the second round by teammate Laura Flessel and finished 15th. In the team event France defeated China, but lost 44–45 against Germany in the semi-finals. They prevailed over Canada in the small final and came away with a bronze medal. Kiraly went on to win the World title with France in 2005, after defeating Hungary in the final, and in 2007.

The Olympic programme did not include women's team épée, which was disputed a few months before as a World Championship, also in Beijing. France defeated China in the final to come away with a gold medal, the sixth in Kiraly's collection. Kiraly qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing due to her Top 8 ranking, but was defeated in the second round again: after leading 12–8 in the last period, she could not stop the comeback of Sweden's Emma Samuelsson. Frustrated, she decided to go on with her career despite signs of aging. She would not however win other world titles: in the 2009 World Championships, France were defeated by Italy in the semi-finals, then by Germany, and finished fourth. In the 2010 World Championships at home in Paris, France had a hard time prevailing upon Switzerland and were stopped in the quarter-finals by Romania. Kiraly left the national team after the 2009–2010 season and took part in World Cup competitions only. Her last tournament was the 2012 Challenge International de Saint-Maur.