Today on Oldest Olympians, we are continuing to review those Olympians who were last known living in 2013. We do, however, have one update from our last post already; thanks to a reader of our blog, we have learned that Alfred Leiser was still alive in at least 2019, after his 90th birthday, so we will be able to keep him on the list! We also discovered a potential obituary for another name, Guatemalan sports shooter Felipe Ortiz, born May 20, 1932, who we last heard from in 2013. An obituary for someone with his exact full name suggests that he may have died October 29, 2023, but we cannot confirm that the individual in the obituary is the Olympian.
Carol Bedö – Member of Romania’s gymnastic team at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics
Carol Bedö, born December 13, 1930, represented Romania in the gymnastics tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he was 20th in the team all-around and had his best individual finish of joint-55th in the floor exercise. That year, he had captured three national titles and he later became an education and sport administrator by profession. Like many Romanians, we have had difficulty in determining if he is still alive, and our last confirmed evidence comes from 2013.
Enrique Guittens – Member of Venezuela’s weightlifting delegation to the 1960 Rome Olympics
Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Enrique Guittens, born December 4, 1931, represented Venezuela in the light-heavyweight weightlifting division at the 1960 Rome Games, but failed to record a mark. He had had better luck at the 1959 Pan American Games, where he took silver in that division. He later moved to the United States and was living in New York as of 2013, but we have not heard about him since then.
Tomáš Bauer – Czechoslovakia’s lone diver at the 1960 Rome Olympics
Tomáš Bauer, born October 26, 1932, represented Czechoslovakia in the diving tournament at the 1960 Rome Games, where he was 21st in both the springboard and platform competitions. He continued to compete at the master’s level, which is how we know that he was still alive in 2013, but we have not seen updates since.
Michihiro Ozawa – Member of the Japanese football squad at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics
Michihiro Ozawa, born December 25, 1932, represented Japan in the football tournament at the 1956 Melbourne Games, where his country was eliminated in round one. Internationally, he played with Japan through 1964, including at the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games, while domestically he spent his entire career with Toyo Industries. We suspect that he is still alive, as he was inducted into the Japan Football Hall of Fame in 2014, but the only definitive evidence that we have comes from 2013.
Pete Sutton – Member of Canada’s track athletics delegation to the 1952 Helsinki Olympics
Pete Sutton, born October 15, 1932, represented Canada in three track events at the 1952 Helsinki Games – the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4×100 metres relay – but was eliminated in the first round of all of them. He was also a reserve in the 4×400 relay. While his first wife was a well-known figure in the Toronto area, we have not been able to confirm that Pete was still alive after 2013.
We will stop here for today, but we hope to finish this series of blog entries in the very near future! We also hope that you will join us!