When it comes to grudge matches in sport, they don't come much nastier than the game between Hungary and the Soviet Union at the 1956 Melbourne Games.

Hungary, led by three-time Olympic gold medalist Dezso Gyarmati, its greatest water polo player, were fighting to defend their gold medal and had advanced to the semifinals.

The problem was the context against which the two teams squared off. The Hungarian Revolution had just started and the Soviet Union had responded by sending in 200,000 troops to crush it.

This set up a semifinal that turned into the bloodiest game of water polo ever played.

During one of the brawls, a Russian player punched Ervin Zador of Hungary in the face, prompting the referee to step in. The match was called at 4-0 to Hungary for fear of further escalation as fans threatened to join in.

The Russians, who later took bronze, got a police escort out of the swimming venue. Hungary went on to win the title match.

Hungary has won more Olympic gold medals at men's water polo than any other country. It medaled at every edition of the Games from 1928-36 and from 1948-1980, and is now enjoying its third renaissance by gold medaling in both Sydney and Athens. It has a total of 14 Olympic medals at the sport: eight gold, three silver and three bronze.

In the 1950-60s, Gyarmati was a major contributor to this success story.

He won five medals in as many Olympics from 1948-64, including golds at Helsinki '52, Melbourne '56 and Tokyo '64. Noted for his speed and his ability to play equally well with both hands, he also captained his national team through the 1954 and 1962 European Championships.

Few could challenge him in Europe, with the exception of perhaps Manuel Estiarte, who led Spain to six Olympics and two medals. Each is recognized by different camps as the world's greatest player.

Gyarmati also built one of Hungary's most famous Olympic families. He wed Eva Szekely, the 200m breaststroke champion at the Helsinki Games, fathered Andrea, a silver medalist in the 100m backstroke in Munich in 1972, and got a new son-in-law in the form of canoeing champion Mihaly Hesz, who took gold at the 1968 Games in Mexico City in the K1 1000.

But while Gyarmati story is widely known, it is not the strangest. That honor is reserved for one-legged Oliver Halassy, who was crowned European swimming champion in 1931 despite having one of his legs amputated below the knee following a car accident.

Halassy, an international swimming Hall of Famer, won 25 individual swimming titles in Hungary, ranging from the 400m to 1,500m freestyle. He also seized three Olympic medals as part of the national water polo team: silver at the 1928 Amsterdam Games, gold four years later in Los Angeles and another gold at the Berlin Games in 1936.