Today on Oldest Olympians we have another two milestone birthdays so, as usual, we are celebrating both of them in a single post!
First, we are wishing a happy 97th birthday to Joaquim Granger, the oldest living Portuguese Olympian! Granger represented his country in the tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he was 23rd with his team in the all-around and had a best individual finish of 107th on the rings. He later worked as a physical education professor.
Second, we want to wish a happy 95th birthday to Frank Shakespeare, the oldest living Olympic champion from the United States! Shakespeare represented his country in rowing’s eights event at the 1952 Helsinki Games, which was won by the Americans. During this time, he was a student in officer training at the United States Naval Academy.
(Willy Hufschmid, pictured in Turnen und Handball: 100 Jahre RTV Basel 1879)
Finally, while we have a little space, we wanted to provide updates on three of our past Olympic medal mysteries. First, Willy Hufschmid, born October 9, 1918, who won a bronze medal with the Swiss handball team at the 1936 Berlin Games, died December 12, 1996. Second, we have learned that John Rungsted Sørensen, born October 5, 1934, who represented Denmark in the C-2 1000 event at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and won a bronze medal, did reach his 90th birthday, but died three weeks later on October 26, 2024. Finally, Enzo Polito, born October 29, 1926, who won a bronze medal with the Italian water polo squad at the 1952 Helsinki Games, died February 27, 2004 at the age of 77.