1980 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze; 1976 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold; 1972 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver; 1968 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze; GOALKEEPER of the Hungarian National Team for years, CONSIDERED BEST IN THE WORLD; 1978 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver; 1975 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver; 1973 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1977 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; 1974 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold; SELECTED AS TOP SEVEN PLAYER OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
Endre Molnár was born in July 1945, during a turbulent era, in
Gyergyószentmiklós, a town in the Kingdom of Hungary which now sits in Romania. Just before Molnar was born, Romanian and Soviet armies, marched in and the town fell under their administration. His father was taken prisoner.
Four years later in 1949, Endre’s father was released from Soviet captivity, and the family moved to Budapest on Lövőház Street which was a young boy’s paradise. Every block had a rival gang of kids, he says, like the legendary Boys of Pál Street. But to steer him into a more productive environment, his parents took him to the pool, and because he didn’t like swimming, he ended up as goalkeeper, the same position he played
in football and handball. “Somehow”, he says, “I enjoyed being shot in the head.”
He began playing with the second division team of Budapesti Építők and in 1960, he moved to Budapesti Spartacus, a first division team, where he remained until the end of his career. Molnar played in a total of one hundred eighty-nine games for the Hungarian National Team between 1966 and 1980. During this time Hungary won four Olympic medals, three at the World Championships and two at the European Championships.
His first Olympic medal came in 1968 at the Mexico City Games, where Molnar and his teammates came away with bronze. In Munich in 1972, they bettered their record by winning the silver medal. Then in Montreal in 1976, they went undefeated in the round-robin tournament to win the gold. 1980 would be Molnar’s fourth and final Olympic Games in Moscow where the Hungarian Team won bronze, being outmatched by only the Soviets on their home stage and the Yugoslavians.
In addition to his four Olympic medals, Molnar won the gold medal at the first edition of the FINA World Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1973, beating out the Soviets. With Endre Molnar as the goalkeeper, the Hungarians were also two-time European Champions.
After Molnar retired, he took several coaching positions in Hungary, winning the Hungarian Championship three times. He also coached in Kuwait, leading the Kuwaiti National Team.
Endre Molnar is one of only a handful of individuals who has won four medals in Olympic water polo competition. He was named Hungarian Water Polo Player of the Year six times and is considered one of the best, if not the best goalkeeper in the history of the sport. In 2000, he was selected for the Hungarian Water Polo Team of the 20th Century, became a member of the Board of Hungarian Water Polo in 2008, and received the Officer’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit in 2020.
Molnar is now a full-time grandfather of three boys, who, not surprisingly, all play water polo.