Olympic champion and Holocaust survivor Agnes Keleti dies
The oldest living Olympic gold champion, Agnes Keleti, has died. She was 103.
A Hungarian-born Jew, Keleti survived Hitler's genocide to become an Olympic legend, winning 10 medals in her lifetime including five golds.
Holocaust survivor
Keleti was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1921. Her athletic career was derailed early on by Nazi oppression, when she was banned from gymnastics for being Jewish.
She survived the Holocaust by fleeing to a village in the country and adopting a false identity. Her father and several other relatives perished at Auschwitz.
After the Second World War ended, the 31-year-old Keleti made her Olympic debut at the 1952 Helsinki Games. She won a gold medal, later winning four more golds at the Melbourne Games in 1956.
Olympic legend dies
The 1956 Melbourne Games coincided with the Hungarian Revolution, which was brutally crushed by the Soviets.
Keleti decided to stay in Australia, where she applied for political asylum. The following year, she settled in Israel, where she became a trainer and Olympics coach through the 1990s.
She died Thursday in her native Budapest, just days shy of her 104th birthday. Keleti had been hospitalized with pneumonia on Christmas Day.
"These 100 years felt to me like 60,” Keleti told The Associated Press on the eve of her 100th birthday. “I live well. And I love life. It’s great that I’m still healthy.”
Tributes pouring in
The official account for Israel's Embassy to the U.S. paid tribute to Keleti, calling her a "true legend."
Ágnes Keleti, 1921-2025
A Holocaust survivor who overcame being expelled from gymnastics, going into hiding, & losing family in Auschwitz to become a 5x Olympic gold medalist.
After the war, she won TEN Olympic medals and later coached Israel's national gymnastics team.
— Embassy of Israel to the USA (@IsraelinUSA) January 3, 2025
International Olympic Committee president IOC President Thomas Bach said: "Ágnes Keleti was the oldest living Olympic Champion and passed away only a week before her 104th birthday. She will be remembered forever for her inspirational story. Ágnes Keleti has demonstrated the power of strong determination and courage to overcome tragedy when she, born to a Jewish family, survived the Holocaust and went on to win ten Olympic medals after World War II, five of them Gold. This is truly awe-inspiring. Our thoughts are with her family and her friends.”
