Today we were hoping to celebrate the 101^st birthday of Yoshio Iimuro as the oldest living Japanese Olympian and Olympic track and field athlete. Iimuro represented his country in the triple jump at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he placed sixth. He had better luck at the Asian Games, where he won gold in that event in 1951 and silver in 1954. Unfortunately, we have not seen any confirmation of his 100^th birthday and thus we have had to remove him from our lists.

(Masaji Tajima, pictured at Getty Images)

This leaves Masaji Tajima, born April 5, 1929, as the oldest living Japanese Olympian. Tajima represented his country in four events across two editions of the Games: the 100 metres and the long jump in 1952, and the 4×100 metres relay and the long jump in 1956. He was also an alternate in the 4×400 metres relay at the former edition. Tajima was a three-time Asian Games champion, winning the 4×100 metres relay in 1951 and 1954, and the long jump in 1951. He was the national champion in the long jump from 1950 through 1953.

As for the oldest living track and field athlete, that distinction now goes to André Marie of France, born October 14, 1925. Marie represented his country in the 110 metres hurdles at the 1948 London Games, where he failed to complete his semi-final heat. He had better luck at the 1950 European Championships, where he won the gold medal, and he later worked as an architectural designer, while also serving as an athletics administrator.

While we are blogging, we also wanted to mention a 1935 Olympic mystery that we missed in our last post. Pradip Bose, who was born c. 1935, represented India in cycling’s road race at the 1952 Helsinki Games, but failed to finish the course. This is all that we know about him, but an anonymous user added a date of death of January 20, 2023 to his (now removed) Wikipedia page. We have, however, been unable to confirm this.

Being a little bit behind in the new year, today Oldest Olympians is covering a handful of Olympic mysteries for individuals born in 1935 for whom we have some suggestion of their death, but cannot confirm the information.

First is British cyclist Joseph McLean, born July 30, 1935. McLean represented his country in the team pursuit, 4,000 metres event at the 1960 Rome Games, where the British squad was eliminated in round one. He also competed at the World Championships and the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1962. After that, we have little information on his life and career, although an anonymous user on Wikipedia added a date of death of March 19, 2024 and place of death of South Africa to his page. It was removed, however, as being unsourced, and we have not seen anything to prove it.

Next is Australian diver Barry Holmes, born August 17, 1935. Holmes represented his country in the platform event at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Games, placing 22^nd and 27^th respectively. We do not know much else about his life or career, but an anonymous Wikipedia editor claimed that he was the Barry Richard Holmes listed in the NSW Probate Index who died December 12, 2012. Since his middle initial is R., this is possible, but we have seen no concrete proof to connect the two.

Then we have Soviet fencer Yury Ivanov, born some time in 1935. Ivanov represented his nation in the team foil event at the 1956 Melbourne Games, where the Soviets were eliminated in the semi-finals. Due to his relatively common name, it is difficult to find any additional information on him, although someone added a year of death of 2022 to his English Wikipedia page, which we cannot confirm.

Up next is Pakistani swimmer Muhammad Bashir, born May 15, 1935. Bashir represented his country in the 200 metres breaststroke event at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he placed 38^th. Like Ivanov, his common name makes it difficult to locate further information about him, and thus we cannot connect the grave of an individual with the same name and date of birth, who died July 21, 2022 in Ohio, to the Olympian.

We also have (West) German cyclist August Rieke, born May 26, 1935. Rieke represented a unified Germany in the sprint at the 1960 Rome Games, where he was eliminated in the quarter-finals. He won several national titles between 1959 and 1962, but never turned professional. We located the grave of an August Rieke, born in 1935 and died in 1995, who is buried in the same province of birth as the Olympian, but nothing to verify that this individual was the Olympian.

Finally, we are featuring Filipino wrestler Antonio T. Senosa, born November 18, 1935. Senosa represented his country as a featherweight at two editions of the Games, 1964 and 1968, in both categories at the former Olympics and in freestyle at the latter. An Antonio Senosa Tusaneza, born May 10, 1935, died January 18, 2006, which could align with the Olympian if our date of birth were incorrect, but we do not have the evidence to connect the two with certainty.

There are still many Olympic mysteries left to catch up on, but we will have to save those for another day. We hope you will join us!

Today on Oldest Olympians, we are finalizing our review of those Olympians who were last known living in 2014, which is down to six, as we solved one case in the interim. We also have two updates from earlier posts in this series. First, British track athlete Bob Shaw, born December 27, 1932, was still alive at the beginning of 2026. Meanwhile, Danish modern pentathlete Benny Schmidt, born June 25, 1929, was still alive at the beginning of 2025, but died later in the year, on June 6, at the age of 95.

To begin, we have Romanian cross-country skier Elena Zangor, born June 19, 1933. Zangor represented her country in the 3×5 kilometers relay at the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Games, in which the Romanian team was disqualified. We were able to locate a lengthy interview with her from 2014, but since then have seen no updates.

(Mitsuyuki Funamizu, pictured at Getty Images)

Next we have Japanese fencer Mitsuyuki Funamizu, born September 7, 1933. Funamizu represented his country in six events across two editions of the Games, 1960 and 1964, and was a reserve in a seventh. He was a multiple national champion and we have evidence of his being alive in 2014, but nothing after that.

Then we have British track athlete John Metcalf, born February 25, 1934. Metcalf represented his country in the 400 metres hurdles at the 1960 Rome Games, and was also a reserve with the 4×400 metres relay. He also competed at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, but retired from sport in 1961. He was still alive and living in Richmond, North Yorkshire in 2014, but we have no further information beyond that.

We then have Irish equestrian Diana Willson, born March 12, 1934. Willson represented her country in the eventing tournament at the 1968 Mexico City Games, where she was 26^th individually. We know that she was alive and living in England as of 2014, and while we believe her to still be alive as of 2025, we have not been able to locate any concrete proof.

Second to last is French ski jumper Robert Rey, born March 25, 1934. Rey represented his country in the large hill at the 1960 Squaw Valley Games, where he placed 38^th. Rey and his older brother Régis, also an Olympic ski jumper, were photographed at an event in 2014, and while Régis has since died, we have not seen an update on Robert since that photo, although he is not listed in the French death index and thus is likely still alive.

Finally, we have Thai athlete Pongummart Ummarttayakul, born April 14, 1934. Ummarttayakul represented his country in two track events at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and was a reserve in a third. He was later a high-ranking figure in the Royal Thai Police, and was still alive in 2014, but we have not seen any updates since then.

That covers all of those Olympians who were last known living in 2014! We hope that you will join us next time for a new topic!

Today on Oldest Olympians we have three milestone birthdays to celebrate so, for the first time in 2026, we are going to cover them all instead of choosing between them!

First, Yehuda Gafni is turning 96 as the oldest living Israeli Olympian! Gafni represented his country in the basketball tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where Israel was eliminated in the qualification round. He also competed at the 1953 European and 1954 World Championships, and won domestic league titles in 1954, 1955, and 1957. He then moved to the United States and now lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

Next, we are wishing José Julio Barillas a happy 94^th birthday as the oldest living Guatemalan Olympian! Barillas represented his country in the 100 and 200 metre dashes at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he was eliminated in the first rounds of both events, and was also entered in the long jump, but did not start. By career he was a soccer player and physical education teacher, but later moved to New York and became active in the Guatemalan community while running a funeral home. He now resides in Ozone Park.

Additionally, we want to wish a happy 93^rd birthday to Héctor Román, the oldest living Puerto Rican Olympian! Román represented his country in the decathlon at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he placed 20^th. He was also entered into the triple jump and the 4×400 metres relay, but did not start. He had more success at the Central American and Caribbean Games, winning silver in the pentathlon in both 1954 and 1959.

(Ben Nighthorse Campbell)

Finally, Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that American judoka Ben Nighthorse Campbell, born April 13, 1933, died December 30 at the age of 92. Campbell represented his country in the open class tournament at the 1964 Tokyo Games, where he placed sixth. He had won gold in that even at the 1963 Pan American Games, and he later became a two-term United States senator from Colorado. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living Olympic judoka, a distinction now held by France’s André Bourreau, born December 3, 1934, who took part in the lightweight event at those same Games.