Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that American swimmer Iris Cummings, born December 21, 1920, died January 24 at the age of 104. Cummings represented her country in the 200 metres breaststroke at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where she was eliminated in round one. This was the highlight of her athletic career, as she quit the sport after realizing that the 1940 Olympics were unlikely to take place, and focused on her education instead. She had a much more notable career as an aviator, which led her to serve with the Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II and work as a flight instructor and teacher at Harvey Mudd College’s Bates Aeronautics Program.
(Erna Herbers)
At the time of her death, Cummings was the last known survivor of the 1936 Berlin Games, a fact that we will address in future blog posts. She was also, however, the oldest living American Olympian and Olympic swimmer. The new oldest Olympian to have competed for the United States is Peter Kennedy, born September 4, 1927. He represented his country in the pairs figure skating competition in 1948 and 1952, winning silver at the latter edition. The new oldest living Olympic swimmer, meanwhile, is Erna Herbers, born May 2, 1925. Herbers represented Germany in the 100 metres backstroke swimming event at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where she was 18th.
Oldest Olympians is also saddened to learn that American figure skater Dick Button, born July 18, 1929, died today, January 30, at the age of 95. Button represented the United States at the 1948 and 1952 Winter Olympics, winning the men’s singles tournament both times. He also won five consecutive World Championship titles between 1948 and 1952 and was runner-up in 1947. After the 1952 Games, he entered Harvard Law School and turned professional with his ice skating, in addition to working as a television commentator for several decades.
(Frank Shakespeare)
At the time of his death, Button was the oldest living American Olympic champion and oldest Olympic figure skating champion. The former distinction now goes to Frank Shakespeare, born May 31, 1930, who was a member of the gold medal-winning eights crew at the 1952 Helsinki Games. The latter titleholder is now Button’s successor, Hayes Jenkins, born March 23, 1933. Jenkins won a third consecutive Olympic gold in men’s singles by taking the crown in 1956.
Finally, as a note, our website has changed! You can now visit the most current version of our Oldest Olympians tables at https://oldestolympians.sdsu.edu/. The old site seems accessible sporadically, but we no longer have the ability to update it, so please update your bookmarks to this new link!
Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that American track and field athlete Greg Bell, born November 7, 1930, died January 25 at the age of 94. Bell represented his country in the long jump at the 1956 Melbourne Games, where he won the gold medal. In addition to several domestic titles, he also took silver in that event at the 1959 Pan American Games. He later worked as a dentist.
(Marjorie Jackson)
At the time of his death, Bell was the oldest living Olympic champion in track and field athletics. That distinction now goes to Marjorie Jackson of Australia, born September 13, 1931, who was already the oldest living Australian Olympic champion. Jackson represented her country in three track events at the 1952 Helsinki Games, winning gold in the 100 and 200 metres and placing fifth in the 4×100 metres relay. She also won seven gold medals at the British Empire Games in 1950 and 1954 and married Australian Olympic cyclist Peter Nelson. She later became involved in politics and was appointed governor of South Australia in 2001, serving until 2007.
(Max Bolkart)
Oldest Olympians is also saddened to learn that German ski jumper Franz Dengg, born December 1, 1928, who we profiled late last year, died October 7, a few weeks before we wrote about him. Dengg represented his country in the tournament at the 1952 Oslo Games, where he placed 31st. His career was relatively brief, and he retired from active competition in 1955. We believed him to be the oldest living Olympic ski jumper, a distinction that now goes to Max Bolkart, born July 29, 1932. Bolkart represented Germany at three consecutive editions of the Games – 1956 through 1964 – with a best finish of fourth in the large hill in 1956. He won the Four Hills tournament during the 1959-60 season, captured four West German titles, and later ran his family hotel, in addition to coaching at the youth level.
(Maria Golimowska)
Finally, in a previous post, we noted the death of Jane Ward, the oldest living Olympic volleyball player. The new titleholder is Maria Golimowska, born August 28, 1932, who was already the oldest living Polish Olympic medalist and Olympic medalist in volleyball. Golimowska represented her country 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.
Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that Micheline Lannoy, born January 31, 1925, whom we believed to be turning 100 at the end of the month, actually died March 18, 2023 at the age of 98. Lannoy and her partner Pierre Baugniet were Belgian national champions in the pairs event from 1944 through 1947. In 1947 they took both the European and World Championships, and then followed that up with victories at the Worlds and the Olympics in 1948. Despite these impressive successes, the duo ended their careers after the Games and managed to maintain a low-profile thereafter. Lannoy later moved to Ontario, Canada and took the married name MacAulay.
(Dick Button)
While normally we would not report on a death that occurred nearly two years ago, we wanted to prepare an update because, in addition to turning 100, she was believed to be the oldest living Belgian Olympian, oldest living Olympic figure skater, and oldest survivor of the 1948 St. Mortiz Games. In terms of figure skaters, the oldest is now American Peter Kennedy, born September 4, 1927, who took silver in the pairs at the 1952 Oslo Games. Among Olympic figure skating champions, however, another American, Dick Button, born July 18, 1929, is now the oldest, having won the men’s singles in 1948 and 1952.
(Fernand Bothy)
Among the Belgians, Fernand Bothy is now the oldest to have represented his country. He did so as a boxer 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. The oldest Olympic medalist for Belgium, however, is Roger Moens, born April 26, 1930, who took silver in the 800 metres track event at the 1960 Rome Games.
(Rosemarie Sparrow)
Finally, the oldest survivor of the 1948 St. Moritz Olympics is Rosemarie Sparrow, born July 6, 1925, who represented Great Britain in two alpine skiing events and now resides in France. Heikki Hasu, meanwhile, born March 21, 1926, is the oldest living Olympic champion and medalist from those Games. Representing Finland, he won the Nordic combined in 1948 and was runner-up in 1952, in addition to being part of the gold medal-winning 4×10 kilometers cross-country skiing relay in the latter year.
Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that French rower Roger Lebranchu, born July 22, 1922, died today, January 10, at the age of 102. Lebranchu represented his country in the coxed eights at the 1948 London Games, where the French team finished last in its heats and did not take part in the repêchage. A former prisoner in the Buchenwald and Auschwitz Concentration Camps, he spent two years undertaking harsh physical labour before fleeing during an evacuation near the end of conflict. In 2024, he helped carry the Olympic torch for the Paris Olympics.
At the time of his death, Lebranchu was the oldest living Olympic rower. That distinction now goes to German Günther Twiesselmann, born August 15, 1925. Twiesselmann represented his country in the coxed fours event at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where a unified Germany was eliminated in the round one repêchage. He won national titles in that event from 1949 through 1952, as well as a coxless fours title in 1951. By career, he was a mechanic.
Two days ago, Oldest Olympians celebrated what we believed to be the 99th birthday of Adolf Hafner, who we thought was the oldest living Olympic ice hockey player and survivor of the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympics. Hafner represented Austria in the tournament at the 1956 Games, where his country placed 10th and last. He was also a reserve on the squad in 1948, but did not see any playing time. He had more luck at the 1947 World Championships, where he took home bronze, and he captured five national titles between 1948 and his 1956 retirement.
Research by Connor Mah, however, turned up that Hafner had unfortunately died back on April 23, 2019 at the age of 93. This means, firstly, that Trude Klecker, born February 7, 1926, is the oldest survivor of the 1956 Winter Olympics. Klecker represented her country in the downhill and giant slalom at the 1952 and 1956 Winter Games, with a best finish of fourth in the giant slalom in 1952. She was more successful at the World Championships, taking gold in the slalom and silver in the downhill in 1954. Domestically, she won all four alpine skiing events at the 1953 national championships, and also captured Austrian titles in the giant slalom in 1954 and 1956, and the combined in the latter year. She now lives in Trieste, Italy.
The oldest living ice hockey player, meanwhile, is Eugeniusz Lewacki, born January 24, 1926, who was already the oldest living Polish Olympian. Lewacki was a member of Poland’s ice hockey squad at the 1948 and 1952 Winter Olympics, where his nation finished sixth overall both times. This was part of an extensive career that also saw him represent Poland at the 1955 World Championships and play domestically for KTH Krynica from 1947 through 1953. During that period, he won the national championship in 1950 and was runner up in 1949, 1951, and 1953. After two years with Gwardia Bydgoszcz, who were national runners-up in 1954 and 1955, he returned to KTH Krynica and ended his career with them in 1957. He resides in Kraków.
Sadly, Oldest Olympians has to begin its blog series of the new year highlighting the deaths of three of the oldest Olympians, beginning with Hungarian gymnast Ágnes Keleti, who died today, January 2, at the age of 103. Keleti began her outstanding career prior to World War II and would have likely been a star at the 1940 Summer Olympics, but, as a Jewish woman, she was instead forced to go into hiding for the duration of the conflict. She then missed the 1948 Games due to injury, and thus did not attend the Olympics until 1952, participating again in 1956. She made the most of her two appearances, however, by winning a total of ten medals, five of which were gold.
Keleti’s chances of making the 1960 Olympics, and her career, ended after she defected to Australia following the 1956 Games, due to the Soviet intervention in Hungary. She later moved to Israel, where she worked as a coach and teacher. Despite the interruption of the war, she won 10 national titles in Hungary. Having missed as many as four editions, there is no telling how many medals she might have earned.
(Charles Coste)
At the time of her death, she was not only the oldest living Olympic champion, but also the longest-lived one. The new oldest living Olympic champion is French cyclist Charles Coste, born February 8, 1924. Coste’s brief amateur career after World War II was quite successful, beginning with his national title in the individual pursuit in 1947. In 1948 he joined Serge Blusson, Fernand Decanali, and Pierre Adam in winning a gold medal in the team pursuit, 4,000 metres event at that year’s London Olympics, and followed that up with an individual pursuit bronze at the World Championships later that year. He then raced as a professional for a decade, notching up several major victories and competing in many more of Europe’s biggest tours.
(Gábor Benedek)
Additionally, Keleti was the oldest living Hungarian Olympian, oldest living Olympic gymnast, and oldest survivor of the 1956 Melbourne Games. The new oldest living Hungarian Olympian, Gábor Benedek, born March 23, 1927, is also a gold medalist, having won team gold and individual silver in the modern pentathlon in 1952. The oldest living Olympic gymnast is now Madeleine Jouffroy of France, born November 20, 1927, who we profiled recently. In terms of medals, however, Sweden’s Vanja Blomberg, born January 28, 1929, who took gold in the team portable apparatus in 1952, is now the oldest living Olympic medalist in gymnastics. Finally, the oldest survivor of the 1956 Melbourne Games is now William de Rham, born August 22, 1922, who represented Switzerland in jumping at the Stockholm equestrian tournament.
Next, Slovakian boxer Ján Zachara, born August 27, 1928, also died today at the age of 96. Zachara represented Czechoslovakia in the featherweight division at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he won the gold medal. He attempted to defend his title in 1956, but was eliminated in the quarterfinals. He never turned professional and instead worked in engineering, but he did coach at the national level and was awarded the Olympic Order in Silver in 1996.
(Matylda Matoušková-Šínová)
At the time of his death, Zachara was the oldest living Olympic boxing medalist and medalist for Czechoslovakia, and we know of no other boxing medalists over the age of 90. Matylda Matoušková-Šínová, born March 29 1933, who won two medals across three editions of the Olympic gymnastics tournament, is now the oldest living Olympic medalist for Czechoslovakia, and we know of no other Olympic champions over the age of 90 who represented that nation.
(Álvaro Sabbo)
Also, last month Álvaro Sabbo, born February 2, 1926, died at the age of 98. Sabbo represented his country in two editions of the Olympic equestrian eventing tournament, failing to finish individually in 1956 and being disqualified in 1960. In neither year were the Portuguese able to rank in the team event. By career, Sabbo was a military officer and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living Portuguese Olympian, a distinction that now goes to Joaquim Granger, born May 31, 1928, who represented his country in gymnastics in 1952.
(Yoav Ra’anan)
In somewhat older news, we have only just learned that the individual we thought was the oldest living Israeli Olympian, Yoav Ra’anan, born January 15, 1928, actually died November 9, 2022 at the age of 94. Ra’naan represented his country in three diving events across two editions of the Games – 1952 and 1956 – with a best finish of ninth in the springboard in 1952. He had much better luck in other international events, taking silver in the springboard at the 1950 Maccabiah Games and gold in both disciplines in 1953. At the 1954 Asian Games, he won the springboard and was runner-up in the platform. By career he was a pilot with El Al airlines. This new information means that Shimon Shelah, born March 19, 1932, who took part in the basketball tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Games, is now the oldest living Olympian to have represented Israel.
Finally, as a small update, we wanted to share some new findings from the England and Wales Death Index. We knew previously that British diver Edna Child, born October 16, 1922, died some time in May 2023 at the age of 100. The index has now revealed that she died on May 20, meaning that her final age was 100 years, 218 days.
