Agnes Keleti, the world’s oldest Olympic champion, died on Thursday at the age of 103. The Hungarian woman’s life had been marked by the trauma of the Shoah.
Agnes Keleti died in a hospital in Budapest. She was hospitalized last week with pneumonia a few days before her 104th birthday.
A five-time Olympic gold medalist with an exceptional career, this tireless sportswoman born on January 9, 1921 had an extraordinary life. She won a total of 10 Olympic medals, including 5 gold at the Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956) Olympic Games, all after the age of 30.
Hungary was then behind the Iron Curtain, under Soviet rule. “I did sport not because it made me feel good but to see the world”she declared in 2016. Called up to the national team in 1939, the queen of the routines was quickly banned from any sporting activity because of her Jewish origins.
After the occupation of Hungary by the Third Reich in March 1944, she escaped deportation by obtaining false documents and assuming the identity of a young Christian, in exchange for all her possessions.
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