Agnes Keleti, the oldest Olympic champion and nicknamed the “mother of Israeli gymnastics,” died today (Thursday) at the age of 103.
Agnès Keleti had dual Hungarian and Israeli nationality. A survivor of the Shoah, she settled in Israel in 1956. In 2015, she returned to live in Budapest, where she died of a lung infection this Thursday, January 2, 2025.
Born Agnès Klein in 1921, she was part of the Hungarian national gymnastics team when war broke out in 1939. She was then refused the right to practice any sporting activity because of her Jewish origins.
In 1944, when Hungary was invaded by the Third Reich, Agnès took on a false identity and hid in the countryside. She acted as a servant and continued to train in secret on the banks of the Danube. His father and several members of his family were deported and exterminated in Auschwitz, while his mother and sister were saved thanks to the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.
Subsequently, when she was already over 30 years old, Agnès Keleti was a five-time Olympic gold medalist. In total, she won ten Olympic medals.
In 2017, she won the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Sports for the State of Israel. It was presented to him by the Minister of Education at the time, Naftali Bennett.
The Israeli Olympic Committee paid tribute to her: “The Israeli Olympic Committee bows at the passing of the greatest Jewish female athlete of all time, Israel Prize winner, Holocaust survivor Agnes Keleti – the oldest Olympic world champion. Agnes, Aggie to her friends, immigrated to Israel from Hungary in 1957 after participating in the Fifth Maccabiah Games. She is the founder of the apparatus gymnastics branch in Israel, nurtured generations of female coaches and athletes, and was an icon of excellence who inspired many in Israeli sport. His greatness in his action and his creativity have greatly influenced the sporting world in Israel and around the world. May his memory be blessed. »
The Minister of Culture and Sports, Micky Zohar, declared: “It is with pain that we part with Agnès Keleti, who died at the age of 103. She was a pioneer of Jewish sport and one of the greatest sportswomen in history. A survivor of the Shoah, she knew how to transform pain into strength and her faith into success and impressive victories: 10 Olympic medals and thousands of hearts won. His legacy is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for generations to come. The path she has blazed will continue to be an example of excellence for Jewish and Israeli sport. May his memory be blessed. »
