Agnes Keleti, a Holocaust survivor and the oldest living Olympic medal winner, has passed away at the age of 103. She died in Budapest on Thursday morning after being hospitalised with pneumonia on Christmas Day, according to Hungarian state news.
Keleti, who was born in Budapest in 1921, won 10 Olympic medals in gymnastics, including five golds, for Hungary at the 1952 Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne Olympics. She is considered one of the most successful Jewish Olympic athletes in history.
Her gymnastics career was interrupted by World War II and the cancellation of the 1940 and 1944 Olympics. During the war, Keleti was forced off the gymnastics team due to her Jewish heritage and went into hiding to survive the Holocaust, using a false identity and working as a maid. Her family faced significant losses, with her father and other relatives perishing at Auschwitz.
Keleti was unable to compete in the 1948 London Olympics due to an ankle injury, but she made her Olympic debut at the 1952 Helsinki Games at 31, winning a gold, silver, and two bronze medals. She then became the most successful athlete at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, securing four golds and two silvers.
After the invasion of Hungary by the Soviet Union in 1956, Keleti sought asylum in Australia and later moved to Israel, where she continued to be involved in gymnastics, training the Israeli Olympic team until the 1990s.
In her later years, Keleti often expressed her gratitude for her health and long life, especially as she celebrated her 100th birthday, reflecting, “These 100 years felt to me like 60. I live well. And I love life.”
