Today on Oldest Olympians we have the same two milestone birthdays as the past three years, so we are again continuing our trend of covering both in a single blog post rather than choosing between them!
First, we want to wish a happy 96th birthday to Miguel Seijas, the oldest living Uruguayan Olympian! Seijas represented his country in the double sculls at the 1952 and 1956 Summer Games, winning bronze in the former and being eliminated in the round one repêchage in the latter.
Second, Chiharu Igaya is turning 95 as Japan’s oldest Olympic medalist! Igaya represented his country in nine alpine skiing events across three editions of the Games – 1952, 1956, and 1960 – and won a silver medal in the slalom in 1956. He also took bronze at the World Championships in that event in 1958. By career he worked in insurance, but also served in sport administration, most notably as a member of the IOC since 1982.
(Lee Sang-Cheol)
Finally, we want to thank the reader who found evidence that French track athlete Jocelyn Delecour, born January 2, 1935, who we covered in our last post, was still alive at his 90th birthday. On the opposite end, Connor Mah was able to confirm that the Lee Sang-Cheol who died in October 2018 was the Olympian who was born November 1, 1935 and represented South Korea in the marathon at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He also discovered that track athlete Lee Yun-seok, who represented South Korea in two events in London in 1948, was born in 1924, and thus could still be living, even if it is unlikely. This is not true of Mah’s other athletics discovery, which was for Swiss athlete Ernst Günther, who competed in the 5000 metres at the London Games, and was apparently born in 1914.
Today on Oldest Olympians, we are blogging about a subject that we have not discussed in some time: Olympic medal mysteries. These are individuals who won medals at the Games and would be over the age of 90, but for whom we have been unable to locate evidence as to whether they are alive or deceased.
The first is Pakistani field hockey player Bashir Ahmed, born December 23, 1934. Ahmed represented his country in the tournament at the 1960 Rome Olympics, where he won a gold medal. He earned another victory with the team at the 1962 Asian Games. Despite these achievements, we have been unable to ascertain further information on Ahmed, perhaps because of his relatively common name.
Next we have Danish sailor Ole Gunnar Petersen, born December 30, 1934. Petersen represented his country in the Flying Dutchman class, alongside Hans Fogh, at two editions of the Games, 1960 and 1964, winning silver in the former and coming in fourth at the latter. Despite these achievements, as well his partnership with one of the most well-known Olympic sailors, we have been unable to find more about Petersen, again possibly due to his relatively common name.
Finally, we are featuring French track athlete Jocelyn Delecour, born January 2, 1935. Delecour represented his country in eight events across four editions of the Games, 1956-1968, winning bronze in the 4×100 metres relay in 1964 and 1968. He was European champion in that event in 1966, and also took bronze in the 200 metres and silver in the 100 metres in 1958 and 1962. A silver medalist in the relay at the 1963 Mediterranean Games, he was also an eight-time French national champion across various disciplines and later served on the administrative role in the sport. Delecour does not appear in the French national death index, so we suspect that he is likely still alive, but we have not seen a source that confirms this.
Over the past week, Oldest Olympians has learned about three deaths among the oldest Olympian titleholders. We are therefore dedicating a blog entry to covering all of them and their successors.
(Gordon Ingate)
The first is Australian sailor Gordon Ingate, born March 29, 1926, who died April 24 at the age of 100. Ingate represented his country in the Tempest class at the 1972 Munich Games, where he placed 19th. 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. At the time of his death, Ingate was the oldest living Australian Olympian, a title that now goes to Bryan Harper, born July 12, 1927, who represented his country in two canoe sprint events at the 1956 Melbourne Games.
On the same day, Soviet weightlifter Rudolf Plyukfelder, born September 6, 1928, also died. Plyukfelder represented his country in the light-heavyweight division at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, where he won the gold medal. He was also World Champion in 1959, 1961, and 1964, and European Champion from 1959-1961. Domestically, he won the Soviet title from 1958 through 1963. Following his retirement from active competition, he turned to coaching.
(Jim George)
At the time of his death, Plyukfelder was the oldest living Soviet Olympic champion and weightlifting medalist. For the former title, the new holder is Vitaly Kovalenko, born March 17, 1934, who won a gold medal with the Soviet volleyball team at the 1964 Tokyo Games. In the latter category, the only living Olympic weightlifting medalist over the age of 90 that we know of is Jim George, born June 1, 1935. George represented the United States as a light-heavyweight, winning bronze in 1956 and silver in 1960.
Finally, Canadian equestrian Tom Gayford, born November 21, 1928, died April 26 at the age of 97. Gayford represented Canada in the three-day event at the 1952 and 1960 Summer Olympics without reaching the podium. In 1968 in Mexico City, however, he switched to jumping and won the gold medal with the Canadian team. He also won three medals at the Pan American Games and gold at the 1971 World Championships. He later became an equestrian coach and judge, and also designed the jumping course for the 1976 Montreal Games.
(Harry Boldt)
At the time of his death, Gayford was the oldest living Olympic champion in equestrian and the oldest living Canadian Olympic medalist. For the former title, the new holder is Harry Boldt, born February 23, 1930, who won dressage team gold and individual silver for (West) Germany at the 1964 Tokyo and 1976 Montreal Games. For the latter, the new holder is Jack McKenzie, born July 22, 1930, who took bronze in the ice hockey tournament at the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Games. The new oldest living Canadian Olympic champion, however, is Peter Kirby, born December 17, 1931, who was part of the winning four-man bobsleigh team at the 1964 Innsbruck Games.
While we are on the topic of Olympic weightlifters, we wanted to mention an update provided to us on an Olympian that we have mentioned previously, Na Si-Yun. Na took silver as middleweight at the 1954 Asian Games, after having placed seventh as a lightweight at the 1948 London Olympics. We previously had no biographical data on Na, but thanks to Connor Mah we learned that he was born in 1920, making him possibly still alive (although this is very unlikely).
Today on Oldest Olympians, we were hoping to celebrate the 101st birthday of German swimmer Erna Herbers. Herbers represented her country in the 100 metres backstroke at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where she placed 18th. Unfortunately, we have not been able to confirm her 100th birthday in over a year, and thus we must remove her from our tables pending additional information.
(Walter Konrad)
We believed that Herbers was the oldest living German Olympian, as well as the oldest living Olympic swimmer. The former title in theory goes to Günther Haase, born June 11, 1925, who won a bronze medal in platform diving at the same Games. Unfortunately, we do not have 100th birthday confirmation for him either, which means that he too will soon be removed from our tables. This would leave Walter Konrad, born July 4, 1928, as the oldest living German Olympian. Konrad represented his country in the 10,000 metres track event at the 1956 Melbourne Games, where he placed 13th.
The latter title now goes to Gail Peters, born June 23, 1929. Peters represented the United States in the 200 metres breaststroke at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where she placed 25th. She won several national titles in her youth, then returned as a master’s swimmer and dominated her events for over a decade, winning 30 titles.
Finally, while we are on the topic, we also have a German Olympic mystery. Hinrich John, born May 11, 1936, represented (West) Germany in the 110 metres hurdles at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Games, being eliminated in the semifinals both times. He was a silver medalist in that event at the 1966 European Championships, and won the national title five times from 1964 through 1968. One website lists a year of death for him as 2018, but the reliability of the source is unclear and we can find no additional evidence indicating whether he is alive or deceased.
Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that Portuguese gymnast Joaquim Granger, born May 31, 1928, died April 17 at the age of 97. Granger represented his country in the tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he was 23rd with his team in the all-around and had a best individual finish of 107th on the rings. He later worked as a physical education professor.
At the time of his death, Granger was the oldest living Portuguese Olympian. That distinction now goes to António Martins, born July 10, 1930. Martins represented his country in the rapid-fire pistol shooting event at the 1960 Rome Games, where he placed 50th. He is better known in Portugal as a pediatric surgeon who pioneered techniques in separating conjoined twins.
Finally, we have an update on another Irish Olympic mystery. Connor Mah was able to confirm that footballer Mick Farrell, who represented Ireland in the tournament at the 1924 Paris Games, was born February 7, 1900 and did die on July 14, 1968.
Today on Oldest Olympians we have two milestone birthdays, so, yet again, rather than choose between them, we have decided to cover both in a single blog post!
The first is Cees Gravesteijn, the oldest living Dutch Olympian, who is turning 98 today! Gravesteijn represented his country in the K-2 1000 canoeing event at the 1948 London Games, where he placed sixth alongside his teammate Wim Pool. He was a member of Kanovereniging De Zwetplassers.
The second is Robin Dixon, the oldest living British Olympic champion, who is 91 today! Dixon represented his country in four events across two editions of the Games, 1964 and 1968, and won gold in the two-man in 1964 with Tony Nash. He also won that event at the 1965 World Championships, along with bronze in 1963 and 1966. A member of the nobility, he entered politics in the 1990s and became Robin Dixon, 3rd Baron Glentoran following the death of his father in 1995.
Finally, we have an update on an older Olympic mystery. A relative of Irish fencer Tom Smith, who competed in the individual and team foil fencing events at the 1948 London Games, was able to confirm the Olympian’s biographical details to Connor Mah. Smith was born on February 23, 1923 and died on his 72nd birthday in 1995.
Today on Oldest Olympians, we are going to look at some new Olympic missing links. These are individuals for whom we have suggestions for a date or year of death, but for whom we cannot confirm the information through reliable sources. For now, we are going to cover four cases that we have accumulated since the last entry in this series.
First we have Thai boxer Chune Pattapong, born in 1927. Pattapong represented his country in the light-welterweight division at the 1956 Melbourne Games, where he was eliminated in round one. This is the extent of our knowledge about him, but someone added a year of death of 2000 to his Wikipedia page with no source. Since we are unable to confirm this information, it makes Pattapong an Olympic missing link.
Next we have Turkish track and field athlete Hakan Eper, born in 1931. Eper was selected to represent his country in the 110 metres hurdles at the 1952 Helsinki Games, but did not start the event. Once again, this is all that we know about him, although we did locate an obituary for an individual by this name who was born February 1, 1934 and died January 9, 2024. Unfortunately, there was no information that could connect him to the Olympian.
Next we are covering Guatemalan wrestler Aristides Pérez, born August 31, 1933. Pérez represented his country as a light-weight in both the Greco-Roman and the freestyle, but did not reach the podium in either event. He had better luck at the 1954 Central American and Caribbean Games, where he took bronze in the freestyle. We located a record of an Aristides Perez Mejia who died May 9, 1995 at the correct age, but have not been able to prove that he is the Olympian.
Finally, we are looking at another Thai Olympian, Montri Srinaka, born in 1934. Srinaka represented his country in the 200 metres and 4×100 metres relay track events at the 1956 Melbourne Games, but was eliminated in the first round of both. He also competed in the 4×100 metres at the 1954 Asian Games, but did not win a medal. We were able to locate the record of an individual by this name who died in 2023 at the age of 91, but could not verify that he was the Olympian.
Today on Oldest Olympians we have another new pairing of milestone birthdays to celebrate, so it is time once again to cover both in a single blog post!
First, we are wishing Iranian wrestler Mahmoud Mollaghasemi a happy 97th birthday! Mollaghasemi represented his country in the flyweight, freestyle event at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he won a bronze medal. He also earned a silver medal in that event at the 1951 World Championships. He later turned to coaching and was a judge at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He is now the oldest living Iranian Olympian!
(Masaji Tajima, pictured at Getty Images)
We want to wish Japanese track and field athlete Masaji Tajima a happy 97th birthday as well! 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 and is now the oldest living Japanese Olympian!
(Junko Nishida)
Additionally, on the subject of Japanese track and field athletes, we wanted to provide an additional update from Connor Mah. Thanks to his research, we have learned that Junko Nishida, born November 3, 1915, who took part in the high jump at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, died September 30, 1942. Finally, Mah also discovered that Japanese weightlifter Isamu Shiraishi, born December 18, 1920, who took part in the bantamweight tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Games, died in 2015.
Today on Oldest Olympians we have a new pair of birthdays to celebrate so, as usual, we are going to cover both in a single blog post!
First, we are wishing a happy birthday to Swedish cross-country skier Irma Johansson, who is turning 94 today! Johansson represented her country in the 10 kilometers and relay events at the 1956 and 1960 Winter Olympics, winning bronze and gold in the relays in those years respectively. Her sole national title came in the 3×5 kilometer relay in 1960, and by career she was a professional gardener. She is now the oldest living Olympic medalist in cross-country skiing.
Then, we are wishing American basketball player Rom Tomsic a happy 93rd birthday! Tomsic represent his country in the tournament at the 1956 Melbourne Games, where the United States won gold. Domestically, he had been a member of the Standford University team. and he is now the oldest living Olympic basketball medalist!
(Robert Geiser)
Finally, on the topic of basketball, we wanted to share some updates regarding previous Olympic mysteries. Connor Mah was able to verify that, as suggested in an earlier post, Swiss basketballer Marcel Moget, born April 23, 1931, died in December 2018. He was also able to confirm that 1948 Swiss basketballer Robert Geiser was the individual who was born in 1919 and died December 17, 1981. He also located information that Geiser’s teammate Bernard Dutoit was born in 1923 and died October 23, 2000. Finally, Mah was also able to locate biographical details on two South Korean basketball players from 1948: Bang Won-sun was born in 1917 and died August 28, 1986, while Lee Jun-yeong was also born c. 1917 and died March 13, 1969.
Today we have two of the three milestone birthdays from last year to celebrate so, as usual, we are covering both in a single blog entry!
First is Gábor Benedek, the oldest living Olympic champion, Hungarian Olympian, and Olympic medalist in modern pentathlon, who is turning 99! After serving in World War II, Benedek made his Olympic debut at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he won a silver medal in the individual event and, with the help of his countrymen, gold in the team tournament. He made a second appearance in 1956, where Hungary missed the podium in fourth and, individually, Benedek was sixth. He was also an individual World Champion in 1953 and a winner with the Hungarian team in 1954. For political reasons, he was banned from competing after 1959 and thus he took up coaching. He later emigrated to West Germany, where he remained until the end of the Cold War.
Second, American Hayes Jenkins, the oldest living Olympic figure skating champion, is turning 93! Jenkins placed just off the podium in fourth at the 1952 Oslo Games, but made up for it in 1956 by winning the event. From 1953 through 1956, he was also the American and World Champion, but he retired after that and worked as a lawyer.
