[3][4][5][6][1][7][8][9] She had seven siblings, including two-time Olympic fencer Margit Elek, and her mother died when she was 11 years old.

[12] When Hungary entered World War II on the side of Nazi Germany, Hungarian Jews were forbidden from entering fencing competitions, and so Elek and her sister, who was also half-Jewish, were unable to compete until after the war ended.

Elek won the gold medal in women's foil at the World Championships in 1934, 1935, and 1951.

[16] Elek was the first woman to win two Olympic gold medals in the individual foil competition.

When the Games resumed after World War II, at age 41 she repeated her performance as Olympic champion by winning a gold medal in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England.