She was the oldest medalist at the Olympic Games. Agnes Keleti, gymnast known for having won ten medals in total during the Games in Helsinki in 1952 and Melbourne in 1956, died Thursday January 2, at the age of 103.
She was going to celebrate her 104th birthday. On Thursday January 2, 2025, Agnes Keleti died at the age of 103, just a few days before her 104th birthday. She died in a hospital in Budapest, Hungary – her country of origin, which she left in the 1950s, before returning in 2015 – her press secretary announced today. She was until then the dean of athletes Olympic champions.
Born in 1921, in Budapest, Agnes Keleti started gymnastics at a young age. In 1939, she joined the Hungarian national team. But, despite her numerous victories in championships, she was excluded in 1940 because she was Jewish. During the Second World War, she had escaped deportation using false identity documents, in the name of Piroska Juhasz. While working for a Nazi-sympathizing family, posing as Christian, she continued to train in secret.
Death of Agnes Keleti: two Olympics, ten medals
After the war – during which her father died in Auschwitz – Agnes Keleti resumed gymnastics. Selected for the London Olympic Games in 1948, she was ultimately unable to participate due to an injury. She participated in the following Games, in 1952 in Helsinki and in 1956 in Melbourne, winning a total of ten Olympic medals..
During the Melbourne Olympic Games, Hungary was invaded by the USSR, so Agnes Keleti chose to stay in Australia, before settling in Israel. With these five gold medals, three silver medals and two bronze medals, she was the third most decorated gymnast in the history of the Olympic Gamesbut also the oldest female gymnast to win a title, since she was 35 years old in 1956.
