( CNN ) -- Just as Brazil is synonymous with football , so Hungary and the ancient sport of fencing are inextricably linked . Take the analogy one step further and Aladar Gerevich must be described as the sport 's Pele -- the greatest Olympic swordsmen ever . Between 1928 and 1960 Hungary was unbeaten in the Olympic team saber competition , winning seven straight gold medals . Gerevich joined the team as an 18-year-old in Los Angeles in 1932 and was still there 28 years later in Rome . As well as six team titles , Gerevich also won individual gold in London in 1948 , improving on his bronze in 1936 , and he completed the full set of medals by claiming silver in Helsinki in 1952 . Gerevich remains the only competitor to win the same Olympic event six times , and he is the only person to win gold medals at six editions of the Games . He would surely have won yet more titles too , had his career not been disrupted by World War Two . The highlight of Gerevich 's career was his individual title in 1948 , an event he dominated so completely that he was beaten just once in 20 bouts . The 1956 Games in Melbourne took place against the backdrop of the Hungarian uprising against Communist rule and its subsequent brutal suppression by the Soviet Union . Despite the distraction -- there was confusion over whether the Hungarian team should compete under the communist flag or the flag of Imre Nagy 's short-lived government -- Gerevich once again led his team to victory , although by now he had slipped to fifth in the individual event . While many of his Olympic teammates chose exile , Gerevich returned to Budapest . In 1960 , aged 50 , he was told that he was too old to compete at another Olympics . Undeterred , Gerevich challenged the entire Hungarian team and beat them all -- going on to collect the seventh gold medal of his illustrious career .
CNN record : six gold medals , 1 silver medal , 1 bronze medal . Olympic joined the team as an 18-year-old in Budapest in 1952 . he remains the only competitor to win the same Olympic event six times .