Today on Oldest Olympians we again have the same two milestone birthdays, so we are continuing our tradition of providing blog post to cover both in lieu of choosing between them!
First, we are wishing Sri Lankan track athlete John De Saram a happy 96th birthday! De Saram represented his country at the 1948 London Olympics, where he was eliminated in the quarterfinals and round one of the 200 and 400 metres events respectively. He also competed at the 1950 British Empire Games, where his best finish was fourth in the 4×110 yards relay. He later had a lengthy career with the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs and the International Law Commission, and served as his country’s ambassador to the United Nations from 1998 to 2002. He is now the oldest living Sri Lankan Olympian!
Secondly, we want to wish American swimmer Don Sheff a happy 94rd birthday! Sheff represented the United States in the 4×200 metres freestyle relay at the 1952 Helsinki Games, which won gold. Because he only swam in the heats, however, he did not receive an actual medal due to the rules of the time. He also won several medals at the 1950 Maccabiah Games. Despite not winning a physical medal, he still competed, and thus we consider him the oldest living Olympic swimming champion!
To wrap up our series of blog posts following the death of Iris Cummings as the last known survivor of any pre-World War II Olympics, today Oldest Olympians completing its look into Olympians who competed at the 1936 Games. We have already covered the eisstockschießen players who have no date of birth, but there are 25 other non-starters and demonstration event competitors from 1936 for whom we lack biographical information but could, in theory, still be alive, as well as 14 art competitors. There are also 32 Olympians who competed in 1936 that could still be alive, but since all but two, Egyptian swimmer Fadl Ibrahim and Afghani field hockey player Abouwi Ahmad Shah, have known dates of birth, we will cover them when we review Olympians who could have been older than Yvonne Chabot-Curtet at the time of her death.
Before we list the remaining 1936 participants, however, we wanted to point to an additional Olympic mystery from that year: Afghani field hockey player Mian Faruq Shah. Shah, who had studied in Britain and earned a pilot’s license from that country, was Assistant Director of Agriculture and Sports Minister of Afghanistan in the mid-1930s, and also vice-captain of the hockey team. Anonymous editors have added a year of death of 2005 and a date of death of May 1, 2013 to his Wikipedia page at various times, but we have been unable to confirm either date.
Of the 14 art competitors from 1936 who could, in theory, still be alive, only one, South African painter Ann Graham, born September 22, 1915, has a known date of birth.
Of the 25 non-starters and demonstration event competitors from 1936 who could still be alive, three have known years of birth. Egyptian footballer Hussein Ezzat and Japanese field hockey player Yasuo Ueno were born in 1915, while another Japanese hockey player, Satoshi Muraoka, was born in 1916.
Name
Country
Event
Emil Angelescu
Romania
Non-starter in the four-man bobsleigh
Dinu Cesiano
Romania
Non-starter in the fencing tournament
Zacarías Flores
Peru
Non-starter in the welterweight boxing tournament
Gerbrecht
Germany
Participant in the demonstration gliding event
Franz Hiermann
Austria
Participant in the demonstration military ski patrol event
Josef Jauch
Switzerland
Participant in the demonstration military ski patrol event
Branko Karadjole
Yugoslavia
Non-starter in coxed fours rowing
Peter von Lerch
Austria
Participant in the demonstration gliding event
José Llovera
Spain
Non-starter in the featherweight boxing tournament
Jean Morand
France
Participant in the demonstration military ski patrol event
Mario Peselli
Italy
Participant in the demonstration gliding event
Teodor Popescu
Romania
Non-starter in the four-man bobsleigh
José Portillo
Spain
Non-starter in the lightweight boxing tournament
Jean Pydych
Poland
Participant in the demonstration military ski patrol event
Pedro Rodríguez
Peru
Non-starter in the flyweight boxing tournament
Constantin Rosetti
Romania
Non-starter in the fencing tournament
Adam Rzepka
Poland
Participant in the demonstration military ski patrol event
Aleksandar Stanojević
Yugoslavia
Participant in the demonstration gliding event
Alexandru Tăutu
Romania
Non-starter in the four-man bobsleigh
Máximo Valdez
Peru
Non-starter in the featherweight boxing tournament
Eduard Waser
Switzerland
Participant in the demonstration military ski patrol event
Today on Oldest Olympians we have the same two milestone birthdays as last year, so it is time for another blog post to cover them both in lieu of choosing between them!
First, we are wishing Günther Haase a happy 100th birthday! Haase represented his country at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where he won a bronze medal in platform diving. Two years earlier, he had won that event at the 1950 European Championships, and in total he collected eight national titles between 1943 and 1956. He later moved to the United States with his wife, also a German national champion in diving, and now resides in Florida as the oldest living German Olympic medalist.
Second, French fencer Daniel Dagallier is turning 99 today! In addition to his team bronze medal from the 1956 Summer Olympics, Dagallier won five team medals – one gold and two each of silver and bronze – in the event at the World Championships between 1951 and 1958, and also took gold at the 1955 Mediterranean Games. He is now the oldest living Olympic fencing medalist.
(Hans Schachinger)
Additionally, we wanted to provide an update on a competitor that we have covered twice before: Connor Mah was able locate records to confirm that Dutch gymnast Klara Post did die on January 12, 2022. Finally, we mentioned previously that Austrian sailor Hans Schachinger died in 1978. Further records located by Mah demonstrated that Schachinger was born June 1, 1921 and died August 11, 1970, with 1978 being the year of his burial.
