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.