Five-time Olympic gold medalist Agnes Keleti, considered the world's oldest living Olympic medalist as well as a Holocaust survivor, died a week before her birthday after battling pneumonia.
MANILA, Philippines — Five-time Olympic champion gymnast Agnes Keleti, who was previously considered the oldest Olympic champion living, has died at the age of 103 at the turn of the New Year on Thursday.
Keleti, who was supposed to turn 104 on January 9, won her first gold medal while competing for Hungary in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, where she ruled the competition in floor exercise — the same event which the Philippines’ Carlos Yulo won in the men’s competition just last year in Paris.
During the same edition of the Games, Keleti also had a silver medal in the team event, and two bronzes in uneven bars and in the team portable apparatus event.
But Keleti would enjoy most of her success in 1956, when she won a whopping four gold medals to go along with two silvers, making her the most successful athlete in that edition of theOlympics.
She was also a World Champion in uneven bars, which she won in 1954. She also had a silver and bronze medal in that competition.
However, Keleti’s success didn’t come without a lot of challenges.
Though born in Budapest, Hungary, Keleti was a jew and suffered much during World War II. Despite being a top prospect for the Hungarian gymnastics team in the 1940s, the war cancelled both the 1940 and 1944 Olympics which derailed her young career.
Her father and a number of other relatives were also killed at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Despite the setbacks, she was able to return to the sport in the 1950s and reached the pinnacle of her national team career.
She was the oldest living Olympic champion since 2019 before her death. She also became the longest-lived Olympic champion ever in August of 2023.
The International Olympic Committee mourned Keleti’s passing.
“She will be remembered forever for her inspirational story. Ágnes Keleti has demonstrated the power of strong determination and courage to overcome tragedy when she, born to a Jewish family, survived the Holocaust and went on to win ten Olympic medals after World War II, five of them Gold. This is truly awe-inspiring. Our thoughts are with her family and her friends.” said IOC President Thomas Bach.