Árpád Kovács
Hungarian athlete
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Árpád Kovács (born 12 September 2005) is a Hungarian sprinter. He was a bronze medalist in the men’s 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships.[1]
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Hungarian |
| Born | 12 September 2005 |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | Sprint |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | 200m: 21.75 (Budapest, 2023) 400m: 45.97 (Szolnok, 2025) |
Medal record | |
Biography
He competed as a member of Szeged VSE (SZVSE) athletics club.[2] He won a silver medal at the 2022 European Athletics U18 Championships over 400 metres.[3]
He competed at the 2023 European Athletics Team Championships in Chorzów, Poland in June 2023.[4] He competed at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Jerusalem, Israel.[5] He was a member of the Hungarian 4 x 400 metres relay team at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in his home championships in Budapest, alongside Ernő Steigerwald, Zoltán Wahl, and Atilla Molnar. The team set a new national record time of 3:02.65.[6][7]
In March 2024, after being coached by Zoltán Menyhárt for ten years in Szeged, he began to be coached by Zoltán Kovács and became a competitor of MATE-GEAC. He won the 400 metres at the International U20 Match in Brno, Czech Republic in June 2024 in a then personal best time of 46.32 seconds. A year later, he beat this time winning the Hungarian U23 Championship in Szolnok with a time of 45.97 seconds.[8][9] He finished fourth at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru in the 400 metres.[10]
He won a bronze medal in the men's 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, in a new national record time of 3:06.03.[11][12][13] He ran 45.97 seconds to win the Hungarian U23 Championships over 400 metres in July 2025 ahead of Balázs Plisz.[14] He represented Hungary at the 2025 European Athletics U23 Championships in Bergen, Norway.[15] He also competed for Hungary in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2025 Summer World University Games in Bochum, Germany.[16][17]
After interest from a number of American universities he visited Princeton and Harvard and in January 2025, he was accepted to study at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts from September 2025.[9] In February 2026, he broke the Harvard indoor record for the 400 metres, running an indoor personal best in Boston of 46.56 seconds.[18] He was selected for the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland.[19] He ran in the individual 400 metres, running a time of 46.77 without advancing to the semi-finals.[20] He also ran in the men's 4 x 400 metres relay on the last day of the championships, as the Hungarian team placed sixth in the final.[21]