Today on Oldest Olympians we have the same two milestone birthdays as previous years, so we are continuing our tradition of providing one blog post to cover both in lieu of choosing between them!

(John De Saram, pictured at the Daily News)

First, we are wishing Sri Lankan track athlete John De Saram a happy 97^th 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!

(Don Sheff, pictured in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle on December 19, 1952)

Secondly, we want to wish American swimmer Don Sheff a happy 95^rd 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 did, however, win 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!

Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that Richard Schoon, born June 23, 1928, died January 11 at the age of 97. Schoon represented Singapore in the field hockey tournament at the 1956 Melbourne Games, where his nation was eliminated in the preliminary round and placed eighth overall. He retired from active competition in 1970 and later worked as an umpire and administrator.

(Lionel Chee, pictured at The Straits Times)

At the time of his death, Schoon was the oldest living Olympian to have represented Singapore and the oldest living Olympic field hockey player. The former distinction now goes to Lionel Chee, born August 4, 1931, who represented his country in the water polo tournament at the same Games, where Singapore placed 10^th overall. The new titleholder in the latter category is Desmond Spackman, born January 4, 1929. Spackman represented Australia in the tournament at the same Games, as well as in 1960, and placed fifth and sixth respectively.

(Jean Rivière)

Finally, thanks to Connor Mah, we can confirm that one previous Olympic mystery is not the new titleholder for the oldest living Olympic field hockey player. Several years ago, we discussed Albert Piaget, born April 13, 1928, who we suspected had died in October 2009, but we could not prove it. We now know that this 1960 field hockey competitor did die in that month. In other field hockey updates, Mah also discovered that the 1928 French player that has been listed as Jacques Rivière was actually Jean Rivière, born January 4, 1908 and died August 19, 1988.

Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that Brazilian sport shooter Edmar de Salles, born June 15, 1928, died April 14 at the age of 97. Salles represented his country in the small-bore rifle three positions and prone events at the 1968 Mexico City Games, placing 55^th and 34^th respectively. He had better luck at the Pan American Games, taking bronze in in the three positions team and the prone team at the 1963 and 1975 editions respectively.

At the time of his death, Salles was the oldest living Brazilian Olympian. That distinction now goes to Harry Adler, born September 21, 1928. Adler represented his country in the Star class at the 1964 Tokyo Games, where he placed 11^th. He also had better luck at the 1963 Pan American Games, as he took bronze in that event. Additionally, he won Soling class bronze at the 1974 South American Championships.

Finally, we have a small update to a previously featured Olympic mystery: Swiss sailor Alfons Oswald. A few years ago, Connor Mah was able to find a date of birth for this 1948 competitor of May 4, 1914. Thanks to his further research, we now also know that Oswald died September 19, 2005 at the age of 91.

Today on Oldest Olympians, we have two updates to Olympic centenarians. First, we were hoping to wish Günther Haase a happy 101^st birthday as the oldest living German Olympian. 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.

(Walter Konrad)

Unfortunately, we were unable to locate confirmation of his 100^th birthday over the past year, and thus we have had to remove him from our tables. This leaves Walter Konrad, born July 4, 1928, as the oldest living German Olympian. Konrad represented his country in the 10,000 metres track event at the 1956 Melbourne Games, where he placed 13^th. The oldest living German Olympic medalist, meanwhile, is Fritz Nachmann, born August 16, 1929. Nachmann represented (West) Germany in three luging events across two editions of the Games, 1964 and 1968, winning bronze in the doubles in 1968.

Then, Oldest Olympians was saddened to learn that Yulen Uralov, born November 23, 1924, died earlier this month at the age of 101. Uralov represented the Soviet Union in individual and team foil at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he was eliminated in the quarter-finals and round one respectively. He was the Soviet foil champion in 1952 and 1953, and later turned to coaching.

(Ninel Krutova)

At the time of his death, Uralov was the oldest living Soviet Olympian, oldest living Olympic fencer, and oldest survivor of the 1952 Helsinki Games. The first distinction now goes to Ninel Krutova, born January 3, 1926, who represented the Soviet Union in five diving events across three editions of the Games, 1952-1960, and won bronze on the platform in 1960. The oldest living Olympic fencer is now Carmen Vall, born June 17, 1926, who was eliminated in the first round of the individual foil in 1960. Finally, the oldest survivor of the 1952 Helsinki Olympics is now Colette Fanara, born February 15, 1925, who competed in the gymnastics tournament with a best individual finish of 85^th in the uneven bars.

One name that was no longer in contention for being the oldest survivor of the Helsinki Games is Korean equestrian Min Byeong-Seon, born in 1919. We had Min listed previously as possibly living, as we did not have a date of death, but thanks to Connor Mah we now know that he died December 14, 1970. In the realm of fencing, we were also able to confirm that Jacques Ben Gualid, born May 3, 1918, who represented Morocco in three events at the 1960 Rome Games, did die on May 3, 1976 in Toronto.

Today on Oldest Olympians, we are continuing our look into new Olympic missing links. These are individuals for whom we have suggestions for a date or year of death, but for whom we cannot confirm the information through reliable sources. Today, we have another four names to look into.

First we have Pakistani field hockey player Khawaja Muhammad Taqi, born in 1918. Taqi represented his country in the tournament at the 1948 London Games, where Pakistan lost the bronze medal match to the Netherlands and placed fourth. He later worked as a coach, and while Wikipedia has listed him as dying in both July 1967 and 1968, we have not found a confirmed date of death.

Next we have Tunisian fencer Raoul Barouch, born May 12, 1916. Barouch represented his country in the individual event of each discipline at the 1960 Rome Games, but was eliminated in the first round every time. Several versions of Wikipedia list his date of death as October 17, 2006 and his place of death as Jerusalem, but we have no reliable sources to verify these facts.

Then, we have Indian cyclist Suchha Singh, born July 21, 1933. Singh represented his country in the sprint at the 1964 Tokyo Games, where he was eliminated in the round one repêchage. He was noted as still being alive in a 2022 article, but someone added a date of death of March 20, 2023 to his Wikipedia page. Unfortunately, they did not include a source that we could check to confirm this.

Finally, we have South Korean speed skater Jo Yun-Sik, born July 24, 1931. Jo represented his country in the 500 and 1000 metres events at the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Games, placing joint-34^th and joint-42^nd respectively. He was later involved heavily in the administration of the sport in his country, and was still alive in 2018. Korean Wikipedia has a date of death of January 28, 2020, but with no source, and we could not locate one ourselves.