Emese Hunyady

Emese Hunyady (born 4 March 1966 in Budapest, Hungary) is a former speed skater.

At age 10, Hunyady participated at the 1977 Hungarian Sprint Championships for Juniors, finishing sixth. Representing Hungary, she had her first international competition in 1979 and in the following years, although still a junior, she entered several senior tournaments. In 1985, after marrying her Austrian coach Thomas Nemeth, she obtained Austrian citizenship and started competing for Austria. The marriage was dissolved some years later, but she retained her Austrian citizenship.

During her 25-year long career, she was a steady performer, almost always finishing in the top 10 of the events she participated in. Her best year was 1994, when she won bronze at the European Allround Championships, became World Allround Champion, won the 1,500 m World Cup, and became Olympic Champion on the 1,500 m, while winning Olympic silver on the 3,000 m. After that, her successes became fewer, but in 1999, she surprisingly won the World Single Distance Championships on her favourite distance, the 1,500 m.

Hunyady participated in six Winter Olympics from 1984 to 2002 and won a large number of Hungarian and Austrian National Allround, Sprint, and Single Distance Championships. She started her sporting career in figure skating, something she used to show when celebrating her victories as a speed skater.

Hunyady is married to Timo Järvinen, a former speed skater from Finland. They have a son, Jasper.