Ágnes Keleti was a Holocaust survivor and the oldest living Olympic champion, having won five gold medals in gymnastics in the 1950s.
- Died: January 2, 2025 (Who else died on January 2?)
- Details of death: Died in Budapest, Hungary after being hospitalized with pneumonia at the age of 103.
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Ágnes Keleti’s legacy
Keleti was just four years old when she began to train as a gymnast in her native Budapest. In her teens, she was competing for Hungary’s national team, and she was poised to become an Olympian, with her sights set on the 1940 Games. But the advent of World War II cancelled those games, as well as the 1944 Olympics, and it threatened Keleti’s life. She was kicked out of her gymnastics club in 1941, no longer welcome as a Jew. Soon after, she went into hiding, refusing to wear the yellow star that would identify her as Jewish, instead buying false identification papers to pass as a Christian. She traveled to a village in the country and stayed under the radar, working as a maid.
At war’s end, Keleti and some of her family had survived, but her father was killed at Auschwitz. Yet as she mourned her losses, she also resumed training as a gymnast. Still skilled, she intended to compete in 1948, but a torn ligament put her out of contention. By the time the 1952 Olympics were approaching, she was 31 years old, an age at which many Olympic gymnasts have long since retired. Determined to get her change at glory, Keleti competed at the 1952 Games at Helsinki, and she won a gold medal in floor exercise, as well as a silver and two bronzes.
After that taste of victory, Keleti chose to try for more, competing in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia at the age of 35. Not only did she succeed; she won four gold and two silver medals, more than any other athlete at the Games. She was the oldest female gymnast ever to win gold.
While she competed in the 1956 Olympics, the Soviet Union was invading Hungary. The tensions between the two countries spilled over into the Games, with a memorable brawl breaking out between the two countries’ water polo teams during a competition. For Keleti’s part, she chose to stay in Melbourne after the Olympics, seeking Australian asylum, along with 44 other Hungarian athletes. The following year, she emigrated to Israel, where she continued to compete and later became a coach and physical education instructor before returning to her home in Budapest in 2015. She had been the oldest living Olympic champion since 2019.
Notable quote
“The best advice is not to deal with the circumstances: where you are, how does it look, what the weather is. But to bring the best out of yourself.” — from a 2021 interview for Olympics.com
Tributes to Ágnes Keleti
Full obituary: ABC News
