World’s Oldest Living Olympic Gold Medalist, Agnes Keleti, Passes Away at 103

Keleti avoided deportation to the Nazi death camps, where hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews perished, by concealing herself in a village south of Budapest with forged identification papers.

Agnes Keleti in Budapest, Hungary, in 2021. 

Jan. 3, 2025, 6:19 PM GMT+6 

Agnes Keleti, a five-time Olympic champion and the world’s oldest living Olympic gold medalist, passed away on Thursday at the age of 103, as confirmed by the Hungarian Olympic Committee. A survivor of the Jewish persecution during World War II, Keleti was born Agnes Klein in Budapest on January 9, 1921. She joined the National Gymnastics Association in 1938 and claimed her first Hungarian championship in 1940. However, her career was cut short that year when she was banned from all sports due to her Jewish heritage.

The International Olympic Committee described Keleti as "the greatest gymnast produced by Hungary," noting that her life and career were deeply affected by both the political climate of her country and her religion. The Hungarian Olympic Committee shared that Keleti narrowly avoided deportation to Nazi death camps by hiding in a village south of Budapest with false papers. Tragically, her father and several relatives perished in Auschwitz.

Keleti's Olympic journey began at the age of 31 at the Helsinki Games in 1952, where she won her first gold medal, defying the typical retirement age for gymnasts. Her career reached its zenith at the 1956 Melbourne Games, where she won four gold medals, becoming the oldest female gymnast to ever claim Olympic gold.

After settling in Israel in 1957, Keleti married and had two children. With a total of 10 Olympic medals, including five golds, she remains Hungary's second most successful athlete of all time. Keleti also earned numerous Hungarian state honors throughout her life.