Today we have two milestone birthdays among the Oldest Olympians so, as usual, we are combining them into a single blog post rather than choosing between them!
First, we are wishing a happy 92nd birthday to Maria Golimowska, the oldest living Olympic volleyball medalist! Golimowska represented Poland in the tournament at the 1964 Tokyo Games, where she won a bronze medal. She also took bronze at the 1956 and 1962 World Championships and the 1958 European Championships, in addition to silver at the 1963 Europeans. Her international career lasted from 1955 through 1966, and she did not retire domestically until 1971.
We are also wishing a happy 92nd birthday to Leo Franciosi, the oldest living Sammarinese Olympian! Franciosi represented San Marino in four editions of the Olympic trap shooting tournament – 1960, 1968, 1976, 1980 – with a best finish of joint-21st in 1976. He was also the flagbearer for San Marino in the 1968 Opening Ceremony.
Today Oldest Olympians is continuing to finalize our look into mystery competitors from the 1948 London Olympics for whom we lack both a date of birth and confirmation as to whether they are alive or deceased. Given the time that has passed, nearly all of these Olympians would be at least 90 years old, but there is a possibility that some are still alive. Today we wanted to continue looking at the many Egyptian participants who meet this definition and, having covered wrestlers last time, we are going to look at the other physical strength sports: weightlifting and boxing.
(Ibrahim El-Dessouki, pictured at Getty Images)
Since weightlifting was a popular sport in Egypt, in which they found much success at the time, we have only one mystery in this category: Ibrahim El-Dessouki. El-Dessouki represented his country as a featherweight in London and placed 12th, in a category won by his compatriot Mahmoud Fayad. We have unable to uncover additional information about him outside of the Olympics, and thus we suspect that this might not have been his commonly used name in Arabic. He may have been Ibrahim Moussa of Alexandria or Ibrahim Abduh of Port Said, both of whom were active at this time, but we have not located any conclusive evidence.
(Ezz El-Din Nasir)
We know a little more about our two mystery boxing competitors. The first, Ezz El-Din Nasir, was eliminated in round one of the lightweight tournament. He had been national champion in that division earlier in the year, and was from Cairo. The second, sometimes referred to as Mohamed Hamouda, was actually Muhsin Hamouda, also of Cairo and also national champion in his category in 1948. He was defeated in round one of the featherweight competition, and we have not been able to learn more about either of these fighters after their Olympic appearances.
Today we have two milestone birthdays among the Oldest Olympians so, yet again, we are combining them into a single blog post rather than choosing between them!
First, we are wishing a happy 96th birthday to Phyllis Lightbourn-Jones, the oldest living Olympian from Bermuda! Lightbourn-Jones represented her nation in five events across two editions of the Games – in 1948 and 1952 – but did not reach the final round of any of them. She later married an American Naval Officer and moved to Connecticut, where, in 1957, she volunteered to coach at the United States Coast Guard Academy, where her husband was teaching chemistry. When her offer was accepted, she became the first woman, at the age of 28, to coach track and field at an institution of higher education. She now resides in Naples, Florida.
Secondly, we are wishing Giuseppe Moioli, the oldest Olympic rowing champion and Italian Olympic medalist, a happy 97th birthday! Moioli won gold in the coxless fours at the 1948 London Games, just missed the podium in fourth in 1956 Melbourne, and also competed in 1952 Helsinki. He was a five-time European champion in this event between 1947 and 1956, and also won with the eights in 1958, in addition to a coxless fours gold medal at the 1955 Mediterranean Games. He later worked as a coach.
Recently, we have become aware of three deaths among Olympians born in 1925. Today we wanted to cover them in a single blog post, as all three were titleholders among the Oldest Olympians.
First, Indian filed hockey player Amit Singh Bakshi, born September 17, 1925, died June 22 at the age of 98. Bakshi represented his country in the tournament at the 1956 Melbourne Games, which India won. He later became a commercial pilot and, at the time of his death, was the oldest living Indian Olympian and oldest living field hockey medalist. In the former category, the new titleholder is another gold medal-winning field hockey player, Raghbir Lal, born November 15, 1929. He was also part of the tournament-winning team in 1956, and took gold in 1952 as well, which additionally makes him the oldest living Olympic champion in field hockey. The oldest living medalist in that sport, however, is Anthony Nunn of Great Britain, born May 24, 1927, who took bronze in 1952.
Then, Russian speed skater Yury Sergeyev, born July 16, 1925, died July 29 at the age of 99. Sergeyev represented his country in the 500 metres event at the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympics and just missed the podium in fourth. He set a world record in that event in 1952 and improved it three times over the next four years. He retired shortly after the Games and later became a coach. Sergeyev was the oldest survivor of the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Games and the oldest living Olympic speed skater. The former distinction now goes to Austrian ice hockey player Adolf Hafner, born January 5, 1926. The latter now belongs to Henry Howes of Great Britain, born October 11, 1928, who competed in three events at the 1948 St. Moritz Games.
Finally, Oldest Olympians has been informed that South African rower Don Dyke-Wells, born February 13, 1925, died March 20, 2023. Dyke-Wells was a member of the South African coxless fours squad at the 1952 Helsinki Games, which was eliminated in the round one repêchage. This was the culmination of his international career, and he soon retired from active competition in order to focus on his vocation. By profession, he was an architect, industrial designer, and teacher, most notably at the KwaZulu-Natal Institute for Architecture, although he also ran his own independent firm. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living South African Olympian; that title now goes to track athlete Daphne Robb-Hasenjäger, born July 2, 1929, who competed in two editions of the Games, 1948 and 1952, and took silver in the 100 metres at the latter Olympics.
