The Hungarian national anthem was played wrongly at a medal ceremony at the Olympics in London, Hungarian fencer Emese Szasz said Tuesday.
The claim is the second dispute over protocol to hit the Games after the North Korean football team walked off in protest Wednesday when the South Korean flag was shown next to their faces on the scoreboard.
Szasz’s remarks concern a victory ceremony Sunday after Hungary’s Aron Szilagyi won gold in the men’s saber.
“In Hungary they are not happy. It was not only the pace that was too fast but it was also a little forced, aggressive,” Szasz said.
“I saw it on TV and I heard the wrong one being played,” she said. “Aron tried to sing but he couldn't keep up.”
The anthem had been approved by officials at Hungary’s National Olympic Committee, the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games said.
“A LOCOG spokesman said on Monday that all national anthems had been specially commissioned by LOCOG, recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and approved by each NOC,” a media release posted on the Olympic News Service said.
Szasz described herself as “very, very devastated” after she lost 15-12 to South Korea’s Choi Injeong in the second round of the women’s individual epee Monday.
