Oldest Olympians will again be travelling with limited internet connectivity for the next week so, rather than miss an update, we have decided to post a blog entry today that will cover one Olympian for every day that we suspect we will be absent (February 22–March 1).

Tomorrow, Egyptian rower Wagih El-Attar, born February 22, 1928, will turn 97! El-Attar represented his country in the coxed fours rowing event at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where Egypt was eliminated in the round one repêchage. He had better luck at the 1955 Mediterranean Games, where he captured bronze in the coxed pairs. He now lives in Orange Country, California as the oldest living Egyptian Olympian.

Then, (West) German equestrian Harry Boldt, born February 23, 1930, will turn 95! Boldt competed in two editions of the Olympic dressage competition, representing unified Germany in 1964 in Tokyo and West Germany in 1976 in Montreal. Both times, he earned gold in the team competition and silver individually. At the World Championships, he earned silver individually in 1966 and gold with the team in 1966 and 1978, as well as team silver in 1970. He collected an additional 11 medals, five of them gold, at the European Championships between 1963 and 1979, and retired in 1980. He then served as a coach until his 1996 retirement and is now the oldest living German Olympic champion.

(Gurbux Singh, pictured at The Telegraph)

As there are no more milestone birthdays during this period, we wanted to take some time to highlight some of the oldest Olympians that we have not yet featured. Our first, Indian hockey player Gurbux Singh, just turned 90 on February 11. He represented his country in two editions of the Olympic tournament, 1964 and 1968, winning gold in Tokyo and bronze in Mexico City. He was also Asian Games champion in 1966 and coached the Indian team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

In a previous post, we mentioned that we had discovered a new centenarian Olympian, Austrian gymnast Gertrude Gries, born October 16, 1924. Gries represented her country at two editions of the Summer Olympics, beginning in 1948 when she was sixth with the national team in the all-around. In 1952, the Austrians were tenth in the all-around and ninth in the portable apparatus, while individually her best finish was joint-56^th in the uneven bars. We do not know much else about her, but her family did confirm that she reached the age of 100.

(Frank O’Grady, pictured at the Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame)

Next, we have ice hockey player Frank O’Grady, born July 25, 1930, who was selected to represent the United States at the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympics but did not play due to injury. He was also chosen to play at the 1957 World Championships, but the United States ended up boycotting the event. He had better luck at the collegiate level with Boston College, and he was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 1995.

Then we have Jarmila Helešicová, born in 1930, who was selected to represent Czechoslovakia in the 200 metres breaststroke at the 1956 Melbourne Games, but was unable to compete. She did, however, take part in the 1954 European Championships and later worked as a coach after retiring in 1960. She was still alive recently, although we have been unable to locate an exact date of birth.

We would be remiss not to mention that the most decorated female Olympian of all time, Larisa Latynina, born December 27, 1934, turned 90 at the end of last year. Latynina represented the Soviet Union in three editions of the Olympic gymnastics tournament, 1956-1964, winning 18 medals across 19 events, missing only the balance beam in 1956. Nine of those medals were gold. She also won 14 medals each at the World and Europeans Championships.

Finally, to wrap up 2024, we have a living Olympian born in 1934 without a precise a date of birth: Indian track athlete Sri Chand Ram. Ram represented his country in the 110 metres hurdles at the 1956 Melbourne Games, but he was eliminated in round one. He trained while serving in the army and later became a coach.

The tables will not be updated during our absence, but we look forward to returning on March 2 to continue cover the Oldest Olympians! We hope that you will join us!

Today Oldest Olympians is celebrating two birthdays that are milestones for different reasons! The first is French gymnast Colette Fanara who is turning 100! Fanara represented her country in the tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where she had a best individual finish of 85th in the uneven bars. By career she was a physical education teacher and gymnastics instructor. Her grandson Thomas Fanara was a three-time Olympian in alpine skiing and Colette now resides in Nice.

(Carlos Caballero, pictured at El Heraldo)

Next, we are wishing a happy 98th birthday to Carlos Caballero, the oldest living Olympic weightlifter! Cabaellero represented Colombia in the middleweight division at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Games, but did not win a medal. He was also selected for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, but did not make the trip after budget cuts. Following his 1970 retirement, he turned to coaching.

(Domini Lawrence, pictured at Horse & Hound)

Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that British equestrian Domini Lawrence, born May 8, 1925, died January 4 at the age of 99. Lawrence represented Great Britain in two Olympic dressage tournaments: in 1968 she was fifth with the team and 11th individually, while in 1972 she was 10th with the team and 33rd individually. She later became a distinguished judge with the International Federation for Equestrian Sports, serving until her retirement in 1998.

(Rosemarie Sparrow)

At the time of her death, Lawrence was the oldest living British Olympian and the oldest survivor of the 1968 and 1972 Summer Games. The new titleholder for Britain is alpine skier Rosemarie Sparrow, born July 6, 1925. Sparrow represented her country in two events at the 1948 Winter Olympics, placing 30th in the downhill and 25th in the combined. She eventually married another British skier from those Games, Peter Boumphrey, and now resides in France.

(Maud van Rosen)

The oldest survivor of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics is now Taiwanese sport shooter Cheng Chi-Sen, born July 13, 1926. Cheng represented his country in the free pistol, 50 metres event, where he placed 56th. He also competed at the 1966 Asian Games and later moved to San Francisco, where he ran a catering business. Finally, Maud von Rosen, born December 24, 1925, is now the oldest survivor of the 1972 Munich Games. Rosen represented her country in the dressage tournament at the 1972 Munich Games, finishing eighth individually, which helped Sweden take a bronze medal in the team competition. She also earned bronze with the Swedish dressage team a year earlier at the 1971 European Championships.

With 2025 upon us, it is time for our yearly fast facts about the Oldest Olympians in the world, partially to continue our commitment to transparency in our research but mostly just for fun and to share some statistics!

(The oldest living Olympian, Yvonne Chabot-Curtet, born May 28, 1920)

As of today, our full list contains 2409 participants, non-starters, demonstration athletes, and art competitors born between 1915 and 1934 that could be living, 846 of which we believe to be living for certain. The former number is up from 2254 and the latter is up from 830 from April of last year.

We also have 215 Olympians (down from 242 last year) who competed in the 1928, 1932, or 1936 Games, Winter and Summer, who have no date of birth but could be still living. It is worth reminding everyone that the vast majority of athletes that could be living are likely deceased and, following the death of the last-known pre-World War II Olympian in January, we will be taking a closer look at this in a future blog post.

(Gertrude Gries)

As of today, we have 12 living Olympic centenarians, as four died in 2024 and three thus far in 2025. The list of the living includes one newly-discovered centenarian that we have yet to feature, Austrian gymnast Gertrude Gries, born October 16, 1924. If you have any suggestions of statistics or information that you would like to see added, please send us a message and we will be happy to include it in the next round!

Today we have two Olympians turning 101 so, just like last year, we wanted to celebrate them both in a single blog entry, as we were unable to choose between the two of them!

First up is French cyclist Charles Coste. 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. He is the oldest living French Olympic medalist, the oldest living Olympic cyclist, and the oldest living Olympic champion!

Next is Wu Chengzhang, the oldest living Chinese Olympian and Olympic basketball player! A lifelong student of physical education, Wu was a member of the Chinese basketball squad that competed at the 1948 London Games and ranked 18th overall out of 23 teams. Following the end of his competitive career, he worked as a basketball coach and trainer. His son, Wu Xinshui, also practiced the sport and in 1999 was voted one of the best all-time Chinese players.