Lajos Szentgáli

Lajos Szentgáli [ lɒjoʃ sɛnt̬ɡa ː li] ( born June 7, 1932 † 2 November 2005) was a Hungarian athlete. At a height of 1.70 m his competition weight was 57 kg.

At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki Szentgáli joined with the Hungarian 4 × to 400 - meter relay, but resigned in the run- off.

1954 improved Szentgáli the Hungarian record in the 800 -meter run at 1:49,0 minutes. Shortly thereafter, he won this route at the Universiade. On 28 August 1954, the final of the European Championships took place in Bern. Szentgáli won in 1:47,1 minutes before the Belgian Lucien de Muynck in 1:47,3 minutes and the Norwegian Audun Boysen in 1:47,4 minutes. These three runners and also the fourth-placed Briton Derek Johnson in 1:47,4 minutes ran times that were undercut in Europe previously only by Rudolf Harbig 1939.

Lajos Szentgáli repeated his 1955 victory at the Universiade. In Melbourne at the Olympic Games in 1956, he resigned in the flow. At the European Championships 1958 in Stockholm, he was in 1:48,3 minutes again fifth.

Szentgáli in 1954, 1956-1959 and 1961 Hungarian champion in the 800 meters. In 1961 he also won over 1500 meters. His best performance over 1500 meters of 3:43,0 he introduced also in 1961. His Hungarian record in the 800 meters in 1954 of 1:47,1 minutes was offered until 1980.