Agnes Keleti, Oldest Living Olympic Champion Who Evaded Nazi Persecution, Dies at 103

The gymnast was one of Hungary's most decorated Olympians.

Agnes Keleti in 2023. / ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images

Ágnes Keleti—the oldest living Olympic champion—died Thursday, Hungary's Olympic committee announced. She was 103.

Keleti won 10 medals in total at the Helsinki and Melbourne Olympics in 1952 and '56, respectively. That total included one gold in Helsinki and four golds in Melbourne.

Her Olympic success is even more remarkable considering the circumstances of her career. Eyeing the 1940 Olympics, Keleti was barred from competition on the grounds of her Jewish faith as Hungary aligned itself with the Axis. The Nazis killed her father in the Auschwitz concentration camp, while Keleti survived World War II in hiding.

Keleti finally debuted in the Olympics at the age of 31, and eventually became the oldest woman to win an Olympic gold medal in artistic gymnastics in '56. When the USSR attacked her country during those games, she defected first to Australia and then to Israel.

In 2002, Keleti was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, and in 2014 an asteroid—265594 Keletiagnes—was named in her honor.

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