For the third blog post in a row, we have the same two milestone birthdays as last year, so the third time is the charm in covering them both!
The first is Emam Ali Habibi, the oldest living Iranian and wrestling Olympic champion, who is turning 94 today! Habibi represented his country in the lightweight, freestyle wrestling division at the 1956 Melbourne Games, where he won a surprise gold medal. He then switched to welterweight, winning titles at the 1958 Asian Games and the World Championships from 1959 through 1962, with his only major loss coming at the 1960 Rome Olympics, where he was eliminated in round five. He was later a member of Iran’s parliament and had a brief career in film.
The second is Ben Campbell, the oldest living Olympic judoka, who turns 92 today! Campbell represented the United States in the open class event at the 1964 Tokyo Games, where he placed sixth. He had been a gold medalist in that category at the 1963 Pan American Games and was a three-time national champion. He later turned to politics and served in the United States Senate from 1993 through 2005.
(Garry Hoyt, pictured at The Inquirer and Mirror)
Finally, in our previous blog entry we noted that Garry Hoyt was celebrating his 94th birthday on April 7 as the oldest living Olympian to have represented Puerto Rico. We have since learned, however, that he died on March 31, shortly before that birthday. This leaves Héctor Román, born January 7, 1933, who placed 20th in the decathlon at the 1952 Helsinki Games, as the only Olympian over the age of 90 that we know of to have represented Puerto Rico.