Julia Gór-Sebestyén once stood at the top of European figure skating, making history for Hungary after winning the 2004 European Championship on home ice. A four-time Olympian, she competed at four consecutive Winter Games from 1998 through 2010 and recorded her best Olympic finish with eighth place at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. Years after stepping away from competition, the former European champion is now facing criminal charges.
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On August 12, Budapest prosecutors charged Gór-Sebestyén with three counts of endangering a minor. According to the indictment from the Budapest IV and XV District Prosecutor’s Offices, she ran a sports club and coached children there. Prosecutors allege that her approach, which initially involved strict expectations, gradually became increasingly cold and aggressive, with competitive results taking priority over the children’s physical and emotional well-being.
“The defendant initially had a harmonious coach-competitor relationship with the children, but later became cold and aggressive,” prosecutors said. They allege that when young skaters failed to achieve the desired competition results or did not perform according to her expectations during training, she resorted to physical mistreatment and psychological humiliation, sometimes in front of their teammates.
The allegations include physically mistreating children, shouting obscenities at them and throwing objects such as skate guards and metal water bottles. Prosecutors also allege that Gór-Sebestyén hit a child in the face on one occasion. The indictment further claims that she used severe food restriction during training camps when a young skater was expected to lose weight.
Prosecutors said the alleged conduct went beyond strict coaching and had an effect on the children’s emotional well-being. “Thus, the accused caused such alienation, anxiety and self-esteem disorders that he endangered the physical, emotional and moral development of three children,” the Budapest Chief Prosecutor’s Office said in its statement.
Based on those allegations, prosecutors charged Gór-Sebestyén with three counts of endangering a minor. They have proposed a suspended sentence and asked the court to prohibit her from working with minors for a fixed period. It is not a court verdict, and Gór-Sebestyén hasn’t yet been found guilty.
The incident occurred in 2023 when complaints were made about Gór-Sebestyén’s treatment of young skaters. The authorities then launched an investigation into a suspected threat to minors. She was subsequently questioned as a suspect, and a former student made public statements about the psychological and physical mistreatment, intimidation, and humiliation she endured for years.
By May 2026, investigators had reportedly completed their work and sent the case to prosecutors with a recommendation to bring charges. That process culminated on August 12, when the Budapest Chief Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that formal charges had been filed against the former European champion. Long before she became the subject of a criminal case, Júlia Gór-Sebestyén was one of the most recognizable names in Hungarian figure skating.
Once Hungary’s skating star, Gór-Sebestyén now faces a difficult chapter
Born in Miskolc, Hungary, in 1981, Gór-Sebestyén started skating as a young child at an outdoor rink in Tiszaújváros. At 13, she moved to Budapest to find better training opportunities and soon began making her mark internationally. Her Olympic journey started at the 1998 Nagano Games, where she finished 15th at just 17 years old.
Her breakthrough came at the 2003 European Championships, where she won bronze. A year later, she produced the defining moment of her career at the 2004 European Championships in Budapest. Competing in front of a home crowd, she captured the women’s singles gold and became the first Hungarian woman to win the European title.
Her best Olympic result came in Salt Lake City in 2002, where she finished eighth. At the 2010 Vancouver Games, she also carried the Hungarian flag at the opening ceremony. After ending her competitive career following the 2010 World Championships, Gór-Sebestyén remained in the sport and turned her attention to coaching. In 2012, she established Sebestyén Korcsolya SE and began working with young skaters in Budapest. That history makes the allegations now facing Gór-Sebestyén particularly striking.