Fernand Bothy and Gábor Benedek

Today we have two milestone birthdays to celebrate and, since we could not choose between them, we are going to feature them both! First is Belgian Fernand Bothy, the oldest living Olympic boxer, who is turning 98! Bothy represented his country in the heavyweight division at the 1948 London Games, where he was defeated in round two. He then embarked upon a brief professional career in 1949, earning a 4-2-0 record, and now resides in Farciennes.

Next is Hungarian modern pentathlete Gábor Benedek, the oldest living Olympic medalist in modern pentathlon, who is turning 97! 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. He is now the last surviving member of his gold medal-winning team.