The oldest Olympic winner, 103-years-old Hungarian-Israeli retired Olympic and world champion in creative gymnastics, Agnes Keleti reacts subsequent to the wax determine of Hungarian-Spanish soccer legend Ferenc Puskas alias Pancho, throughout a brief go to on the Tussaud Museum in Budapest on April 26, 2024. (Photograph by ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP)
BUDAPEST–5-time Olympic champion Hungarian gymnast Agnes Keleti, the world’s oldest residing Olympic gold medalist and a survivor of the persecution of Jews in World Warfare Two, died on the age of 103 on Thursday, the Hungarian Olympic Committee stated.
Born as Agnes Klein in Budapest on Jan. 9, 1921, Keleti joined the Nationwide Gymnastics Affiliation in 1938 and gained her first Hungarian championship in 1940, solely to be banned from all sports activities actions that yr due to her Jewish origin.
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“Agnes Keleti is the best gymnast produced by Hungary, however one whose life and profession have been intertwined with the politics of her nation and her faith,” the Worldwide Olympic Committee stated in a profile on its web site.
The HOC stated Keleti escaped deportation to Nazi dying camps, the place tons of of 1000’s of Hungarian Jews have been killed, by hiding in a village south of Budapest with false papers. Her father and a number of other family died within the Auschwitz dying camp.
She gained her first gold on the Helsinki video games in 1952 aged 31, when most gymnasts had lengthy been retired, the HOC stated.
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Keleti reached the height of her profession in Melbourne in 1956, the place she gained 4 gold medals and have become the oldest feminine gymnast to win gold, the HOC stated. A yr later Keleti settled in Israel, the place she married and had two youngsters.
Her 10 Olympic medals, together with 5 golds, rank Keleti because the second most profitable Hungarian athlete of all time, the HOC stated. She has additionally acquired a number of Hungarian state awards.
