1986

Following a courageous thought, János Angyal and a few of his friends from sport hosted the very first Jumping Gala on the Main Square of Salgótarján on September 19, 1986. The unique location, the pole vaulters reaching the heights of buildings, and the music accompanying the jumps attracted crowds of curious people. The closeness of the spectators and the exceptional atmosphere got a hold on the athletes. As the welcome of the event exceeded all expectations it was no longer a question to carry on.

“As a track and field coach I experienced that the local competitions brought splendid results but only a few were interested, whereas the neighbouring countries hosted massive competitions with Olympic Champions and World Record holders as participants, which made the stadiums sold out. I wanted to promote athletics here at home and I have always dreamt of bringing famous athletes to Hungary. That is when the idea of ‘let’s bring the competition to the city, if people don’t come to the stadium’ formed.

As primarily the jumping events were close to me, we set up a standard mobile field in the Main Square of Salgótarján. With my athletes I also worked with the Hungarian National Team, thus we could succeed in inviting the best Hungarian athletes already to the very first Jumping Gala. Salgótarján is basically a one-street city, it was impossible to miss the Main Square. A huge crowd gathered together, we had an incredible atmosphere and remarkable results.”

– personal story of János Angyal, founder of the Museum.

1993

Even though the European Champion high jumper Dragutin Topic was the first serious international competitor at the Jumping Gala back in 1990, the real breakthrough is dated to 1993. In that year the entry list was exceptionally strong and included the then greatest jumping athlete of the world, Sergey Bubka in the men’s pole vault event; whereas the ladies’ high jump event also presented an elite line up with the Olympic and World Champion Stefka Kostadinova, and the indoor World Champion Alina Astafei.

“News about the Jumping Gala reached the world as Eurosport broadcast a 30-minute-long compilation of the competition. But 1993 delivered a breakthrough also in the scene of sponsors. The prestigious competitors had such an advertising value that the interest of multinational companies such as Coca-Cola, Samsung, and Adidas was attracted. The instrumentality of István Gyulai, who was the General Secretary of the IAAF then, also helped us getting into the international circulation. From then on we always managed to bring a current Olympic or World Champion to the competition as a headliner. Since the Hungarian Athletics Association also embraced the competition, the Jumping Gala functioned as a team event for the Hungarian national team until 2001, with the participation of usually 3-4 nations.“

– personal story of János Angyal, founder of the Museum.

1996

The biggest sight of the Jumping Gala that year was the freshly awarded Olympic Champion of Atlanta, Charles Austin jumping over the 218-centimetre-tall, 6x NBA Champion, 6x MVP, and score recorder of NBA with 38,387 – up until today -, and basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

1997

The grand meeting of Austin and Sotomayor at the Jumping Gala meant the competition between the current Olympic Champion of men’s high jump and the current World Champion of men’s high jump. This phenomenon was so extraordinary that not even the venue of Zurich could make it happen regardless of being associated as the acropolis of athletics events with a really high prestige and serious organizational capacity.

1999

Due to the inadequate status of the pavement, we had to move the competition from the Main Square of Salgótarján. Staying there would have presented the risk of injuries. The Jumping Gala was relocated to Somoskó, to one of the country’s most modern and freshly constructed fields underneath the picturesque and 700-year-old castle.

2001

The Jumping Gala in 2001 probably welcomed the highest number of spectators as it was the last European competition in the career of Javier Sotomayor, the uncrowned king of men’s high jump. On August 26, 2001 with a huge interest from the crowd, Sotomayor jumped 235 centimetres which result set the new Jumping Gala record. After Somoskő, he competed at only one competition in Japan.

2006

The Croatian Blanka Vlašić won at the Jumping Gala with a result of 203 centimetres: it was the third best result that year thanks to which, Somoskő received a place on the All Time Top List of the IAAF.

“István Gyulai passed away in March, 2006. Besides being the chief patron of the Jumping Gala, he was a great friend of mine. Losing him left an enormous void, I was left without support in a way, as he was not only close to me as a person, but also helped a lot with the organization. His death had a toll on me, I didn’t have the strength to carry on, that is why the competition was cancelled in 2007. István’s widow, however, encouraged me to continue organizing the Jumping Gala, so eventually I decided to go on. To honour the memory of István Gyulai in a worthy way, the Museum officially bears his name.”

– personal story of János Angyal, founder of the Museum.

István Gyulai and János Angyal