Magyar Posta is issuing a promotional personalised stamp to mark the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian Athletics Club. Thirty-five thousand copies of the philatelic novelty made by printing on the label part of the personalised Your Own Stamp were produced by the banknote printing company Pénzjegynyomda. The new issue can be purchased at Filaposta and designated post offices in Hungary or ordered from Magyar Posta’s online store from 24 November 2025. The Hungarian Athletics Club (MAC) held its inaugural meeting at the National Riding Hall on 8 April 1875, and thus is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its foundation in 2025. The Club was established on the initiative of Count Miksa Esterházy and Lajos Molnár, who introduced Anglo-Saxon-style “gentlemen’s sports” to Hungary. The foundation of the Club was a milestone in Hungarian sporting life, as it launched the advancement of not only athletics, but also of wrestling, swimming, fencing, rowing, cycling and football. Only a few weeks after its foundation, on 6 May 1875, the first Hungarian athletics meeting was held, where running, throwing, jumping and boxing events were presented. At the first Olympic Games of the modern era in 1896, the Club provided two medallists for the Hungarian team, and later trained world-class athletes in numerous disciplines, including 18 Olympic champions (in fencing, water polo and wrestling). In 1901, the Club built its iconic sports complex on Margaret Island, which became a centre for athletics, football and tennis. Between the two World Wars, it remained the country’s most important sports club, fostering the careers of the likes of the Olympic silver medallists Elemér Somfay and Béla Szepes, and the leading tennis player of the era and table tennis world champion Béla Kehrling. After World War II, the communist regime dissolved the Club, confiscated its facilities, and built the Pioneers’ Stadium in its place. The Club was re-established in 1989 and remains one of the most prestigious symbols of Hungarian sporting life today. Source: Hungarian Olympic and Sports Museum, Hungarian Athletics Club The Club’s most successful athlete, Aladár Gerevich, who won Olympic titles in 1932 and 1936 as an MAC athlete, appears on the label of the stamp. The commemorative first day cover features a detail of the Memorial to the Hungarian Athletics Club and Hungarian Sports located on Szabadság Square in Budapest, which was created by the sculptor György Várhelyi and the architect László Dobos. The imprint of the postmark on the commemorative cover shows a stylized drawing of the MAC emblem surrounded by a laurel wreath.