Today Oldest Olympians is blogging about a new Olympic centenarian! In recent days, Connor Mah has discovered that Belgian track athlete Jeanne Van Kesteren, born December 25, 1907, died October 23, 2011 at the age of 103 years, 302 days. Van Kesteren represented her country in the javelin throw at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where she placed 11th.
Van Kesteren had more luck domestically, as she won 10 national titles in the javelin throw between 1930 and 1946, as well as two 800 metres track titles in 1929 and 1935. She was also a basketball player and pentathlete, winning a national title in the former sport in 1935. This discovery makes Van Kesteren the longest-lived Belgian Olympian by over three years.
Additionally, we wanted to make an update on a previous post. In September, we featured British gymnast Glyn Hopkins, born October 1, 1928, in the hopes of celebrating his birthday the following month. A reader, however, recently wrote in to inform us that Hopkins actually died back on November 23, 2023, at the age of 95.