Today on Oldest Olympians, we want to cover two milestone birthdays and two deaths among the oldest Olympian titleholders. While normally we would hope to split these topics up, the unfortunate number of deaths means that we want to cover all of them before the news gets too old.
First, however, the birthdays, beginning with the oldest Irish Olympian, Harry Byrne, who is turning 97! Byrne represented his country in Dragon-class sailing at the 1972 Munich Games, where he placed 16th. This was just a small part of a long career full of domestic successes and international appearances, such as the 1973 European Championships.
(Hasenjäger, pictured far left, in the Life Photo Collection)
The oldest South African Olympian, Daphne Robb-Hasenjäger, is also turning 97 today! Hasenjäger began her career in the aftermath of World War II as Daphne Robb. Her first major international appearance came at the 1948 London Olympics, where she was eliminated in the semifinals of the 100 metres and placed sixth in the 200 metres. In 1949 she ran the 100 yards in 10.7 seconds, then a world record, but it was not recognized due to assistance from the wind. Robb’s achievements became more notable in the 1950s, as she won a bronze medal in the 220 yards event at the 1950 British Empire Games and then, after marrying a fellow athlete and becoming Daphne Hasenjäger, earned a silver medal in the 100 metres at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
Moving on to the recently deceased, Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that Mahmoud Mollaghasemi, born April 5, 1929, died June 30 at the age of 97. Mollaghasemi represented his country in the flyweight, freestyle event at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he won a bronze medal. He also earned a silver medal in that event at the 1951 World Championships. He later turned to coaching and was a judge at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. At the time of his death, Mollaghasemi was the oldest living Iranian Olympian; that distinction now goes to Mohamed Bayati, born May 5, 1932, who represented his country in the football tournament at the 1964 Tokyo Games.
Oldest Olympians is also saddened to learn that Tan Liong Houw, born July 26, 1930, died June 29 at the age of 95. Tan represented his country in the football tournament at the 1956 Melbourne Games, where he was eliminated in the quarterfinals. He also represented Indonesia at three editions of the Asian Games, winning bronze in 1958. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living Indonesian Olympian, a title that now passes to Tan Tjong Sian, born April 26, 1931, who represented his country in Flying Dutchman-class sailing at the 1968 Mexico City Games.
Finally, while we are reporting on deaths, we have an update for 1948 South Korean hammer thrower Gin Gang-Hwan, born January 7, 1917. Connor Mah has discovered that his name was actually In Gang-Hwan, and that he died July 14, 1994, at the age of 77.