Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that Finnish sailor Freddy Ehrström, born August 29, 1925, died January 21 at the age of 100. Ehrström, alongside Rolf Zachariassen, represented his country in the Star class at the 1960 Rome Games, where the duo placed 14^th. Ehrström was a four-time national champion in this event (1952, 1959, 1960, and 1971) and later worked as an administrator and judge with the International Sailing Federation.

At the time of his death, Ehrström was the oldest living Finnish Olympian and oldest living Olympic sailor. The new titleholder in the former category is track and field athlete Rainer Pelkonen, born April 19, 1928. Pelkonen represented his country in the 400 metres hurdles at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he was eliminated in the quarter-finals. He was also selected for the 800 metres, but did not start the event. Domestically, he won 11 relay titles, as well as the hurdles title in 1952, and he later worked as a physical education teacher. He continued to compete at the masters’ level into his 80s.

In the latter category, the new titleholder is Australian Gordon Ingate, born March 29, 1926. Ingate represented his country in the Tempest class at the 1972 Munich Games, where he placed 19^th. That same year, he was runner-up to Ted Turner in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, but he continued competing in national championships into his 90s, even winning a Dragon class title in 2018 at the age of 91. He is also Australia’s oldest living Olympian.

Finally, as an update to a previous report on a potential Olympic centenarian, Connor Mah discovered that Yoshio Iimuro, born January 18, 1925, who was potentially the oldest living Japanese Olympian, actually died in October 2023. He therefore died at the age of 98 and did not become a centenarian.

Today on Oldest Olympians, we have two milestone birthdays to celebrate so, as usual, we are going to cover both in a single blog entry!

First, we are wishing a happy 100^th birthday to Trude Klecker, the oldest survivor of the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Games! Klecker represented Austria in the downhill and the giant slalom in both 1952 and 1956, and just missed the podium in fourth in the giant slalom in 1952. She was more successful at the 1954 World Championships, where she won the slalom and took silver in the downhill. She was also a seven-time national champion across various disciplines, and later became a German language teacher.

We are also celebrating the 95^th birthday of Dick Deaver, the oldest living Olympic sailing medalist! Deaver represented the United States in the Dragon class at the 1964 Tokyo Games, where he won the bronze medal. By career, he was a sailmaker.

On the topic of the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Games, we have an update on an Olympian that we discussed many years ago. Mahmoud Beiglou, born in 1929, represented Iran in three alpine skiing events at those Games and was still alive in 2010. By 2020, however, we had not seen further updates from him and thus removed him from our tables. As it turns out, however, Beiglou died well before turning 90, on January 18, 2013.

Today we were hoping to celebrate the 101^st birthday of Yoshio Iimuro as the oldest living Japanese Olympian and Olympic track and field athlete. Iimuro represented his country in the triple jump at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he placed sixth. He had better luck at the Asian Games, where he won gold in that event in 1951 and silver in 1954. Unfortunately, we have not seen any confirmation of his 100^th birthday and thus we have had to remove him from our lists.

(Masaji Tajima, pictured at Getty Images)

This leaves Masaji Tajima, born April 5, 1929, as the oldest living Japanese Olympian. Tajima represented his country in four events across two editions of the Games: the 100 metres and the long jump in 1952, and the 4×100 metres relay and the long jump in 1956. He was also an alternate in the 4×400 metres relay at the former edition. Tajima was a three-time Asian Games champion, winning the 4×100 metres relay in 1951 and 1954, and the long jump in 1951. He was the national champion in the long jump from 1950 through 1953.

As for the oldest living track and field athlete, that distinction now goes to André Marie of France, born October 14, 1925. Marie represented his country in the 110 metres hurdles at the 1948 London Games, where he failed to complete his semi-final heat. He had better luck at the 1950 European Championships, where he won the gold medal, and he later worked as an architectural designer, while also serving as an athletics administrator.

While we are blogging, we also wanted to mention a 1935 Olympic mystery that we missed in our last post. Pradip Bose, who was born c. 1935, represented India in cycling’s road race at the 1952 Helsinki Games, but failed to finish the course. This is all that we know about him, but an anonymous user added a date of death of January 20, 2023 to his (now removed) Wikipedia page. We have, however, been unable to confirm this.

Being a little bit behind in the new year, today Oldest Olympians is covering a handful of Olympic mysteries for individuals born in 1935 for whom we have some suggestion of their death, but cannot confirm the information.

First is British cyclist Joseph McLean, born July 30, 1935. McLean represented his country in the team pursuit, 4,000 metres event at the 1960 Rome Games, where the British squad was eliminated in round one. He also competed at the World Championships and the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1962. After that, we have little information on his life and career, although an anonymous user on Wikipedia added a date of death of March 19, 2024 and place of death of South Africa to his page. It was removed, however, as being unsourced, and we have not seen anything to prove it.

Next is Australian diver Barry Holmes, born August 17, 1935. Holmes represented his country in the platform event at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Games, placing 22^nd and 27^th respectively. We do not know much else about his life or career, but an anonymous Wikipedia editor claimed that he was the Barry Richard Holmes listed in the NSW Probate Index who died December 12, 2012. Since his middle initial is R., this is possible, but we have seen no concrete proof to connect the two.

Then we have Soviet fencer Yury Ivanov, born some time in 1935. Ivanov represented his nation in the team foil event at the 1956 Melbourne Games, where the Soviets were eliminated in the semi-finals. Due to his relatively common name, it is difficult to find any additional information on him, although someone added a year of death of 2022 to his English Wikipedia page, which we cannot confirm.

Up next is Pakistani swimmer Muhammad Bashir, born May 15, 1935. Bashir represented his country in the 200 metres breaststroke event at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he placed 38^th. Like Ivanov, his common name makes it difficult to locate further information about him, and thus we cannot connect the grave of an individual with the same name and date of birth, who died July 21, 2022 in Ohio, to the Olympian.

We also have (West) German cyclist August Rieke, born May 26, 1935. Rieke represented a unified Germany in the sprint at the 1960 Rome Games, where he was eliminated in the quarter-finals. He won several national titles between 1959 and 1962, but never turned professional. We located the grave of an August Rieke, born in 1935 and died in 1995, who is buried in the same province of birth as the Olympian, but nothing to verify that this individual was the Olympian.

Finally, we are featuring Filipino wrestler Antonio T. Senosa, born November 18, 1935. Senosa represented his country as a featherweight at two editions of the Games, 1964 and 1968, in both categories at the former Olympics and in freestyle at the latter. An Antonio Senosa Tusaneza, born May 10, 1935, died January 18, 2006, which could align with the Olympian if our date of birth were incorrect, but we do not have the evidence to connect the two with certainty.

There are still many Olympic mysteries left to catch up on, but we will have to save those for another day. We hope you will join us!

Today on Oldest Olympians, we are finalizing our review of those Olympians who were last known living in 2014, which is down to six, as we solved one case in the interim. We also have two updates from earlier posts in this series. First, British track athlete Bob Shaw, born December 27, 1932, was still alive at the beginning of 2026. Meanwhile, Danish modern pentathlete Benny Schmidt, born June 25, 1929, was still alive at the beginning of 2025, but died later in the year, on June 6, at the age of 95.

To begin, we have Romanian cross-country skier Elena Zangor, born June 19, 1933. Zangor represented her country in the 3×5 kilometers relay at the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Games, in which the Romanian team was disqualified. We were able to locate a lengthy interview with her from 2014, but since then have seen no updates.

(Mitsuyuki Funamizu, pictured at Getty Images)

Next we have Japanese fencer Mitsuyuki Funamizu, born September 7, 1933. Funamizu represented his country in six events across two editions of the Games, 1960 and 1964, and was a reserve in a seventh. He was a multiple national champion and we have evidence of his being alive in 2014, but nothing after that.

Then we have British track athlete John Metcalf, born February 25, 1934. Metcalf represented his country in the 400 metres hurdles at the 1960 Rome Games, and was also a reserve with the 4×400 metres relay. He also competed at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, but retired from sport in 1961. He was still alive and living in Richmond, North Yorkshire in 2014, but we have no further information beyond that.

We then have Irish equestrian Diana Willson, born March 12, 1934. Willson represented her country in the eventing tournament at the 1968 Mexico City Games, where she was 26^th individually. We know that she was alive and living in England as of 2014, and while we believe her to still be alive as of 2025, we have not been able to locate any concrete proof.

Second to last is French ski jumper Robert Rey, born March 25, 1934. Rey represented his country in the large hill at the 1960 Squaw Valley Games, where he placed 38^th. Rey and his older brother Régis, also an Olympic ski jumper, were photographed at an event in 2014, and while Régis has since died, we have not seen an update on Robert since that photo, although he is not listed in the French death index and thus is likely still alive.

Finally, we have Thai athlete Pongummart Ummarttayakul, born April 14, 1934. Ummarttayakul represented his country in two track events at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and was a reserve in a third. He was later a high-ranking figure in the Royal Thai Police, and was still alive in 2014, but we have not seen any updates since then.

That covers all of those Olympians who were last known living in 2014! We hope that you will join us next time for a new topic!

Today on Oldest Olympians we have three milestone birthdays to celebrate so, for the first time in 2026, we are going to cover them all instead of choosing between them!

First, Yehuda Gafni is turning 96 as the oldest living Israeli Olympian! Gafni represented his country in the basketball tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where Israel was eliminated in the qualification round. He also competed at the 1953 European and 1954 World Championships, and won domestic league titles in 1954, 1955, and 1957. He then moved to the United States and now lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

Next, we are wishing José Julio Barillas a happy 94^th birthday as the oldest living Guatemalan Olympian! Barillas represented his country in the 100 and 200 metre dashes at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he was eliminated in the first rounds of both events, and was also entered in the long jump, but did not start. By career he was a soccer player and physical education teacher, but later moved to New York and became active in the Guatemalan community while running a funeral home. He now resides in Ozone Park.

Additionally, we want to wish a happy 93^rd birthday to Héctor Román, the oldest living Puerto Rican Olympian! Román represented his country in the decathlon at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he placed 20^th. He was also entered into the triple jump and the 4×400 metres relay, but did not start. He had more success at the Central American and Caribbean Games, winning silver in the pentathlon in both 1954 and 1959.

(Ben Nighthorse Campbell)

Finally, Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that American judoka Ben Nighthorse Campbell, born April 13, 1933, died December 30 at the age of 92. Campbell represented his country in the open class tournament at the 1964 Tokyo Games, where he placed sixth. He had won gold in that even at the 1963 Pan American Games, and he later became a two-term United States senator from Colorado. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living Olympic judoka, a distinction now held by France’s André Bourreau, born December 3, 1934, who took part in the lightweight event at those same Games.

Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn of the recent deaths of two French titleholders, the first of which is fencer Daniel Dagallier, born June 11, 1926, who died December 2 at the age of 99. In addition to his team bronze medal from the 1956 Summer Olympics, Dagallier won five team medals – one gold and two each of silver and bronze – in the event at the World Championships between 1951 and 1958, and also took gold at the 1955 Mediterranean Games. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living Olympic fencing medalist and the oldest living French Olympic medalist overall.

The oldest living Olympic fencing medalist is now Michael Howard, born December 24, 1928. Howard represented Great Britain at three editions of the Games, 1956-1964, and took silver with the épée team in 1960. He was a bronze medalist in that event at the 1957 World Championships and twice British Empire and Commonwealth Games champion, in 1958 and 1962.

(Jean Laudet, pictured in the center at Histoire du Canoë)

The title of oldest living French Olympic medalist then went to Jean Laudet, born August 5, 1930, who was already the oldest living French Olympic champion and Olympic canoeing medalist. Laudet represented his country in the C-2 10,000 metres event at the 1952 Helsinki Games, alongside Georges Turlier (another of the oldest Olympians), and took home the gold medal. He later worked as an antiquarian.

(Georges Turlier)

Unfortunately, Laudet died December 20 at the age of 95, which again changed the titles. The new oldest French Olympic medalist is Jacqueline Du Bief, born December 4, 1930, who took bronze in the women’s singles figure skating event at the 1952 Oslo Games. The new oldest living French Olympic and Olympic canoeing champion, meanwhile, is Laudet’s partner Georges Turlier, born July 16, 1931.

Today Oldest Olympians has the same three milestone birthdays to celebrate as last year, and thus we have even more reason than usual to discuss them all in a single blog post!

(Ernesto Sastre, pictured at El Magazín Cultural)

First, we are wishing fencer Ernesto Sastre a happy 99^th birthday! Sastre represented Colombia in three events at the 1964 Tokyo Games, the individual and team épée, as well as the team foil, but was eliminated in the first round of each of them. He had better luck at the Central American and Caribbean Games, winning bronze and gold with the épée team in 1962 and 1966 respectively. Sastre is the oldest living Colombian Olympian, as well as the oldest survivor of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Next, we are wishing Canadian bobsledder Peter Kirby a happy 94^rd birthday! Kirby represented Canada in two events at the 1964 Innsbruck Games, coming in fourth in the two-man, but winning gold in the four-man. Originally a skier, he also won a gold medal at the 1965 World Championships and, by career, was a geologist and businessman. He is now the oldest living Olympic bobsleigh medalist.

Finally, we are wishing a happy 96^th birthday to Walter Neville Howell, the oldest living Australian Olympic medalist and Olympic rowing medalist! Howell represented his country in rowing’s eights event at the 1956 Melbourne Games, where he won a bronze medal. He captured gold in that event at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and also competed in the coxed pairs at the 1960 Rome Olympics, but was eliminated in the round one repêchage.

Last year on this day, we celebrated the 100^th birthday of Tong Suet-Fong, who represented Chinese Taipei in the basketball tournament at the 1956 Melbourne Games, as the oldest living Taiwanese Olympian. Having done additional research, however, and having not seen any 100^th birthday announcements, we have concluded that he was most likely born in 1932 and is thus “only” 93 today. As such, we have updated our tables and this makes him no longer the oldest living Taiwanese Olympian.

(Cheng Chi-Sen)

That distinction possibly goes to Chen An-hu, born December 31, 1924, who was already the oldest living Olympic sport shooter. As we have not seen a 100^th birthday notification for him, however, we are applying our policy a little early and removing him from our tables until and unless we find confirmation that he is still alive. That leaves us with Cheng Chi-Sen, born July 13, 1926, as both the oldest living competitor from Chinese Taipei and the oldest living Olympic sport shooter. Cheng represented his country in the free pistol, 50 metres event at the 1968 Mexico City Games, where he placed 56^th. A police officer by career, he competed at the 1966 Asian Games and later moved to San Francisco, where he ran a catering business. He is also the oldest survivor of the 1968 Summer Olympics.

(Rosemarie Sparrow)

Finally, in other Olympic centenarian news, we are saddened to learn that British alpine skier Rosemarie Sparrow, born July 6, 1925, died October 13 at the age of 100. Sparrow represented her country in two alpine skiing events in 1948, placing 25th in the combined and 30th in the downhill. At the time of her death, she was the oldest living British Olympian and survivor of the 1948 St. Moritz Games. The former title now goes to Tony Purssell, born July 5, 1926, who represented his country in coxed fours rowing at the 1948 London Games. The oldest living survivor of the 1948 St. Moritz Olympics, meanwhile, is Egon Schöpf, born October 16, 1925, who represented Austria in two events at those Games, as well as an additional one in 1952.

Today, Oldest Olympians has the same two milestone birthdays to celebrate as it did last year so, rather than choose between them, we are going to feature both in a single blog entry!

First, Australian cross-country skier Richard Walpole is turning 98! Walpole represented his country in the 15 kilometer event at the 1960 Squaw Valley Games, finishing 51st. Both during and after his active career, he coached for his Myrtleford Ski Club, and he is now the oldest survivor of the 1960 Winter Olympics.

We are also wishing a happy 95^th birthday to fencer Jan Boutmy, the oldest living Olympian to have represented the Netherlands Antilles! Boutmy took part in the individual sabre tournaments at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics, but was eliminated in the first round both times. He had much more success at the Central American and Caribbean Games, winning eleven medals between 1946 and 1970, including six golds. He later served as an international judge and coach.