Today Oldest Olympians has three milestone birthdays to celebrate so, as you might imagine, we have decided to feature all of them in a single blog post rather than choose just one!

First is Fernand Bothy, the oldest living Belgian Olympian and Olympic boxer, who is turning 99! Bothy represented his country in the heavyweight division at the 1948 London Games, where he was defeated in round two. He then embarked upon a brief professional career in 1949, earning a 4-2-0 record, and now resides in Farciennes.

Next is Gábor Benedek, the oldest living Hungarian Olympian and Olympic medalist in modern pentathlon, who is turning 98! After serving in World War II, Benedek made his Olympic debut at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he won a silver medal in the individual event and, with the help of his countrymen, gold in the team tournament. He made a second appearance in 1956, where Hungary missed the podium in fourth and, individually, Benedek was sixth. He was also an individual World Champion in 1953 and a winner with the Hungarian team in 1954. For political reasons, he was banned from competing after 1959 and thus he took up coaching. He later emigrated to West Germany, where he remained until the end of the Cold War. He is now the last surviving member of his gold medal-winning team.

Finally, American Hayes Jenkins, the oldest living Olympic figure skating champion, is turning 92! Jenkins placed just off the podium in fourth at the 1952 Oslo Games, but made up for it in 1956 by winning the event. From 1953 through 1956, he was also the American and World Champion, but he retired after that and worked as a lawyer.

Continuing from the previous blog post, following the death of Iris Cummings as the last known survivor of any pre-World War II Olympics, today Oldest Olympians is looking at Olympians who competed at the 1932 Games. There are actually fewer Olympians than from 1928 who we could not find confirmation of their being deceased, although two of them have a known date of birth and could still possibly be alive. With that said, as all competitors would have had to be teenagers or younger during the Games, it is unlikely that any remain alive.

First, Hatsuko Morioka, born June 22, 1915, represented Japan in four swimming events across two editions of the Games – 1932 and 1936 – with a best finish of fifth with her nation in the 4×100 metres freestyle relay. She was a four-time national champion in the 400 metres freestyle, but she retired from active competition at the onset of World War II. While some sources claim that she was alive at the age of 100, we have seen no evidence that confirms this.

Second, Misao Yokota, born February 3, 1917, represented Japan in the same relay, as well as in the 100 metres backstroke, in 1932. She was a two-time champion in the latter event, 1932-1933, and made some professional appearances prior to World War II. She was still alive in 2001, but we have no evidence of what happened to her after that. Finally, below are the 23 competitors from 1932 for whom we lack even a year of birth, but also evidence of their death.

(Hwang Eul-Su, Korean boxer)

Name	Notes
Toru Arai	Art competitor from Japan in Painting
Vicente Araujo	Reserve for Brazil’s 4×400 metres relay team
Abelardo Cuevas	Art competitor from Japan in Music
Daemers	Art competitor from Belgium in Sculpturing
Valère De Moer	Art competitor from Belgium in Sculpturing
Deryck	Art competitor from Belgium in Architecture
D. Dumortier	Art competitor from Belgium in Painting
Hélène Gérard	Art competitor from Belgium in Painting
Hwang Eul-Su	Korean lightweight boxer
Franz Janisch	Reserve with the Austrian weightlifting delegation
Eiichi Kawasaki	Art competitor from Japan in Sculpturing
Jay Maddox	Art competitor from the United States in Painting
Jeronimo Maria	Non-starter for Brazil in the 5,000 metres event
Kiyoshi Murai	Reserve with Japan’s water polo squad
Rogelio Pazquez	Art competitor from Cuba in Music
Rafael Pérez	Non-starter for Cuba in the high and long jumps
Jorge Pessoa	Reserve with Brazil’s water polo squad
Marcel Prévost	Art competitor from Belgium in Painting
Tomotari Sakurai	Art competitor from Japan in Painting
Elise Swanson	Art competitor from the United States in Music
Isamu Toyofuji	Art competitor from Japan in Painting
Domingos Trevisan	Non-starter for Brazil in the javelin throw
Anna Van Nuffel	Art competitor from Belgium in Sculpturing

Our final post in this series will look into the 1936 Games, and once again we hope that you will join us!

Today Oldest Olympians is returning to Iris Cummings, born December 21, 1920, who died January 24 as the last survivor of the 1936 Berlin Games, making her the last known survivor of any pre-World War II Olympics. Over the years, we have mentioned many Olympians from the 1928, 1932, and 1936 Games whom we could not confirm as deceased, but with no reports of survivors following Cummings’ death, we suspect that she was truly the last.

Of the 214 individuals without a known date of birth that competed in those editions, but we could not prove as either living or deceased, 58 were from 1928. Since any survivors would have had to be pre-teens to still be alive, it is probably safe to assume that they are all deceased. Thus we wanted to use this post to present those names that we were unable to learn more about.

Name	Notes
Michel Baur	Member of the France 1 four/five man bobsleigh
G. H. Bellut	Reserve for France in the modern pentathlon
A. Bié	Reserve with the French field hockey team
Isidor Bieri	Featherweight Greco-Roman wrestler for Switzerland
Brander	Ski Joring competitor for Switzerland
J. Brun	Reserve with the Swiss field hockey team
Peter Conrad	Ski Joring competitor for Switzerland
Hermann Eichholzer	Middleweight weightlifter for Switzerland
F. Fischer	Member of the Swiss field hockey team
Joseph Fischler	Member of the Swiss team pursuit, 4,000 metres squad
Robert Frédéric	Lightweight reserve with the French boxing delegation
Otto Frei	Middleweight Greco-Roman wrestler for Switzerland
Simon Frey	Swiss art competitor
Wilhelm Gasser	Heavyweight weightlifter for Switzerland
Robert Frédéric	Middleweight reserve with the French boxing delegation
Louis Giobergia	Member of Monaco’s coxed fours rowing squad
M. L. Guirard	Reserve with the French field hockey team
Hubert Guyard	Member of the French tandem sprint, 2,000 metres squad
Ion Haidu	Romanian decathlete
Anton Huber	Member of Germany’s 6 metres-class sailing crew
Auguste Hummel	Flyweight reserve with the French boxing delegation
Robert Hürlimann	Member of the Swiss water polo team
Ernest Hüttenmoser	Member of the Swiss water polo team
Kinichiro Ishii	Japanese single sculls rower
Fred Jenny	Member of the Swiss field hockey team
H. J. Ken	Austrian art competitor
Adalbert Koch	Member of the Swiss field hockey team
Fritz Kuhn	Ski Joring competitor for Switzerland
Fritz Lincke	Reserve with the German field hockey team
J. Loubert	Member of the Swiss field hockey team
Maurice Magnin	Member of the Swiss field hockey team
F. Mordasini	Ski Joring competitor for Switzerland
Saul Moyal	Egyptian foil and épée fencer
P. Neymann	Reserve with the German cycling delegation
Roland Olivier	Member of the Swiss field hockey team
G. Périer	Member of France’s military ski patrol team
Charles Piot	Member of the Swiss field hockey team
Karl Max Reinhardt	Member of the Germany 1 four/five man bobsleigh
Jean Rémusat	Reserve with the French field hockey team
Franz Riederer	Heavyweight weightlifter for Switzerland
Jacques Rivière	Member of the French field hockey team
Otto Rothman	Romanian javelin thrower
E. Ruchti	Reserve with the Swiss water polo team
Tiberiu Rusu	Romanian high jumper
Hachiro Sato	Member of Japan’s coxed fours rowing squad
Eugène Schmitt	Member of France’s gymnastics delegation
Fred Short	South African road race cyclist
Olver Silva	Bantamweight reserve with the Argentine boxing delegation
Jacques Simon	Member of the French field hockey team
Charles Six	Member of the French field hockey team
Tsukasa Sonobe	Member of Japan’s coxed fours rowing squad
Max Studer	Light-heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler for Switzerland
Max Thommen	Reserve with the Swiss equestrian delegation
Ernst Trinkler	Middleweight weightlifter for Switzerland
E. Tschümperly	Reserve with the Swiss water polo team
Makoto Tsushida	Member of Japan’s coxed fours rowing squad
Hermann Volz	Heavyweight weightlifter for Germany
Rudolf Wettstein	Ski Joring competitor for Switzerland

Our next post in this series will look into the 1932 and 1936 Games, so we hope that you will join us!

Oldest Olympians was saddened to learn that, during our break, the oldest Olympian, Yvonne Chabot-Curtet, born May 28, 1920, died February 21 at the age of 104. Chabot-Curtet represented her country in the long jump at two editions of the Games, 1948 and 1952, placing 8th and 23rd respectively, and setting an Olympic record in the qualifying round of the former edition. She also came in fourth at the 1950 European Championships in that event and captured five national titles: the long jump and the pentathlon in 1946 and 1949 and an additional long jump title in 1945. Her daughter, Jacqueline, was also a successful long jumper on the national scene, although she did not appear at the Olympics.

(Rhoda Wurtele, pictured in a clip from My Canadian Moment)

The new oldest living Olympian is Canadian alpine skier Rhoda Wurtele-Eaves, born January 21, 1922, who recently turned 103. Both her and her twin sister Rhona, who died in 2020 at the age of 97, reached the top of the national skiing scene, with Rhona competing in the Olympics in 1948 and Rhoda in 1952. In 1948, the already injured Rhona broke her leg near the end of the course and placed last among the finishers, while Rhoda did not compete at all due to an ankle injury. Rhona, meanwhile, did not participate in 1952, while Rhoda had her best finish of ninth in the giant slalom. Both later had careers as ski instructors and were inaugurated into multiple Halls of Fame for their pioneering efforts in the field of Canadian women’s skiing.

Chabot-Curtet held several other distinctions as the oldest living Olympian, including the oldest living French Olympian, the oldest living track and field athlete, and the oldest survivor of the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics. The oldest French Olympian and survivor from the 1948 London Games is now cyclist Charles Coste, born February 8, 1924. Coste’s brief amateur career after World War II was quite successful, beginning with his national title in the individual pursuit in 1947. In 1948 he joined Serge Blusson, Fernand Decanali, and Pierre Adam in winning a gold medal in the team pursuit, 4,000 metres event at that year’s London Olympics, and followed that up with an individual pursuit bronze at the World Championships later that year. He then raced as a professional for a decade, notching up several major victories and competing in many more of Europe’s biggest tours. He is also the oldest living Olympic cyclist and the oldest living Olympic champion!

The oldest survivor of the 1952 Helsinki Games, meanwhile, is Gertrude Gries, born October 16, 1924, who we recently added to our tables after it was confirmed that she was still alive at the age of 100! Gries represented her country at two editions of the Summer Olympics, beginning in 1948 when she was sixth with the national team in the all-around. In 1952, the Austrians were tenth in the all-around and ninth in the portable apparatus, while individually her best finish was joint-56^th in the uneven bars.

Finally, the oldest living track and field athlete is now Yoshio Iimuro, born January 18, 1925, who recently turned 100! Iimuro represented his country in the triple jump at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where he finished sixth. He had better luck at the Asian Games, where he won that event in 1951 and came in second in 1954. He later had a long career in education, served in several roles as a sports administrator, and authored a book on his experiences. He is also the oldest living Japanese Olympian.

As always, when the oldest Olympian dies, there are many other issues to write about, and we still have to catch up on new developments following the death of the last survivor of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Iris Cummings. We therefore have many blog posts planned for the future and hope that you will join us!

Oldest Olympians will again be travelling with limited internet connectivity for the next week so, rather than miss an update, we have decided to post a blog entry today that will cover one Olympian for every day that we suspect we will be absent (February 22–March 1).

Tomorrow, Egyptian rower Wagih El-Attar, born February 22, 1928, will turn 97! El-Attar represented his country in the coxed fours rowing event at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where Egypt was eliminated in the round one repêchage. He had better luck at the 1955 Mediterranean Games, where he captured bronze in the coxed pairs. He now lives in Orange Country, California as the oldest living Egyptian Olympian.

Then, (West) German equestrian Harry Boldt, born February 23, 1930, will turn 95! Boldt competed in two editions of the Olympic dressage competition, representing unified Germany in 1964 in Tokyo and West Germany in 1976 in Montreal. Both times, he earned gold in the team competition and silver individually. At the World Championships, he earned silver individually in 1966 and gold with the team in 1966 and 1978, as well as team silver in 1970. He collected an additional 11 medals, five of them gold, at the European Championships between 1963 and 1979, and retired in 1980. He then served as a coach until his 1996 retirement and is now the oldest living German Olympic champion.

(Gurbux Singh, pictured at The Telegraph)

As there are no more milestone birthdays during this period, we wanted to take some time to highlight some of the oldest Olympians that we have not yet featured. Our first, Indian hockey player Gurbux Singh, just turned 90 on February 11. He represented his country in two editions of the Olympic tournament, 1964 and 1968, winning gold in Tokyo and bronze in Mexico City. He was also Asian Games champion in 1966 and coached the Indian team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

In a previous post, we mentioned that we had discovered a new centenarian Olympian, Austrian gymnast Gertrude Gries, born October 16, 1924. Gries represented her country at two editions of the Summer Olympics, beginning in 1948 when she was sixth with the national team in the all-around. In 1952, the Austrians were tenth in the all-around and ninth in the portable apparatus, while individually her best finish was joint-56^th in the uneven bars. We do not know much else about her, but her family did confirm that she reached the age of 100.

(Frank O’Grady, pictured at the Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame)

Next, we have ice hockey player Frank O’Grady, born July 25, 1930, who was selected to represent the United States at the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympics but did not play due to injury. He was also chosen to play at the 1957 World Championships, but the United States ended up boycotting the event. He had better luck at the collegiate level with Boston College, and he was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 1995.

Then we have Jarmila Helešicová, born in 1930, who was selected to represent Czechoslovakia in the 200 metres breaststroke at the 1956 Melbourne Games, but was unable to compete. She did, however, take part in the 1954 European Championships and later worked as a coach after retiring in 1960. She was still alive recently, although we have been unable to locate an exact date of birth.

We would be remiss not to mention that the most decorated female Olympian of all time, Larisa Latynina, born December 27, 1934, turned 90 at the end of last year. Latynina represented the Soviet Union in three editions of the Olympic gymnastics tournament, 1956-1964, winning 18 medals across 19 events, missing only the balance beam in 1956. Nine of those medals were gold. She also won 14 medals each at the World and Europeans Championships.

Finally, to wrap up 2024, we have a living Olympian born in 1934 without a precise a date of birth: Indian track athlete Sri Chand Ram. Ram represented his country in the 110 metres hurdles at the 1956 Melbourne Games, but he was eliminated in round one. He trained while serving in the army and later became a coach.

The tables will not be updated during our absence, but we look forward to returning on March 2 to continue cover the Oldest Olympians! We hope that you will join us!

Today Oldest Olympians is celebrating two birthdays that are milestones for different reasons! The first is French gymnast Colette Fanara who is turning 100! Fanara represented her country in the tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where she had a best individual finish of 85th in the uneven bars. By career she was a physical education teacher and gymnastics instructor. Her grandson Thomas Fanara was a three-time Olympian in alpine skiing and Colette now resides in Nice.

(Carlos Caballero, pictured at El Heraldo)

Next, we are wishing a happy 98th birthday to Carlos Caballero, the oldest living Olympic weightlifter! Cabaellero represented Colombia in the middleweight division at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Games, but did not win a medal. He was also selected for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, but did not make the trip after budget cuts. Following his 1970 retirement, he turned to coaching.

(Domini Lawrence, pictured at Horse & Hound)

Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that British equestrian Domini Lawrence, born May 8, 1925, died January 4 at the age of 99. Lawrence represented Great Britain in two Olympic dressage tournaments: in 1968 she was fifth with the team and 11th individually, while in 1972 she was 10th with the team and 33rd individually. She later became a distinguished judge with the International Federation for Equestrian Sports, serving until her retirement in 1998.

(Rosemarie Sparrow)

At the time of her death, Lawrence was the oldest living British Olympian and the oldest survivor of the 1968 and 1972 Summer Games. The new titleholder for Britain is alpine skier Rosemarie Sparrow, born July 6, 1925. Sparrow represented her country in two events at the 1948 Winter Olympics, placing 30th in the downhill and 25th in the combined. She eventually married another British skier from those Games, Peter Boumphrey, and now resides in France.

(Maud van Rosen)

The oldest survivor of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics is now Taiwanese sport shooter Cheng Chi-Sen, born July 13, 1926. Cheng represented his country in the free pistol, 50 metres event, where he placed 56th. He also competed at the 1966 Asian Games and later moved to San Francisco, where he ran a catering business. Finally, Maud von Rosen, born December 24, 1925, is now the oldest survivor of the 1972 Munich Games. Rosen represented her country in the dressage tournament at the 1972 Munich Games, finishing eighth individually, which helped Sweden take a bronze medal in the team competition. She also earned bronze with the Swedish dressage team a year earlier at the 1971 European Championships.

With 2025 upon us, it is time for our yearly fast facts about the Oldest Olympians in the world, partially to continue our commitment to transparency in our research but mostly just for fun and to share some statistics!

(The oldest living Olympian, Yvonne Chabot-Curtet, born May 28, 1920)

As of today, our full list contains 2409 participants, non-starters, demonstration athletes, and art competitors born between 1915 and 1934 that could be living, 846 of which we believe to be living for certain. The former number is up from 2254 and the latter is up from 830 from April of last year.

We also have 215 Olympians (down from 242 last year) who competed in the 1928, 1932, or 1936 Games, Winter and Summer, who have no date of birth but could be still living. It is worth reminding everyone that the vast majority of athletes that could be living are likely deceased and, following the death of the last-known pre-World War II Olympian in January, we will be taking a closer look at this in a future blog post.

(Gertrude Gries)

As of today, we have 12 living Olympic centenarians, as four died in 2024 and three thus far in 2025. The list of the living includes one newly-discovered centenarian that we have yet to feature, Austrian gymnast Gertrude Gries, born October 16, 1924. If you have any suggestions of statistics or information that you would like to see added, please send us a message and we will be happy to include it in the next round!

Today we have two Olympians turning 101 so, just like last year, we wanted to celebrate them both in a single blog entry, as we were unable to choose between the two of them!

First up is French cyclist Charles Coste. Coste’s brief amateur career after World War II was quite successful, beginning with his national title in the individual pursuit in 1947. In 1948 he joined Serge Blusson, Fernand Decanali, and Pierre Adam in winning a gold medal in the team pursuit, 4,000 metres event at that year’s London Olympics, and followed that up with an individual pursuit bronze at the World Championships later that year. He then raced as a professional for a decade, notching up several major victories and competing in many more of Europe’s biggest tours. He is the oldest living French Olympic medalist, the oldest living Olympic cyclist, and the oldest living Olympic champion!

Next is Wu Chengzhang, the oldest living Chinese Olympian and Olympic basketball player! A lifelong student of physical education, Wu was a member of the Chinese basketball squad that competed at the 1948 London Games and ranked 18th overall out of 23 teams. Following the end of his competitive career, he worked as a basketball coach and trainer. His son, Wu Xinshui, also practiced the sport and in 1999 was voted one of the best all-time Chinese players.

Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that American swimmer Iris Cummings, born December 21, 1920, died January 24 at the age of 104. Cummings represented her country in the 200 metres breaststroke at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where she was eliminated in round one. This was the highlight of her athletic career, as she quit the sport after realizing that the 1940 Olympics were unlikely to take place, and focused on her education instead. She had a much more notable career as an aviator, which led her to serve with the Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II and work as a flight instructor and teacher at Harvey Mudd College’s Bates Aeronautics Program.

(Erna Herbers)

At the time of her death, Cummings was the last known survivor of the 1936 Berlin Games, a fact that we will address in future blog posts. She was also, however, the oldest living American Olympian and Olympic swimmer. The new oldest Olympian to have competed for the United States is Peter Kennedy, born September 4, 1927. He represented his country in the pairs figure skating competition in 1948 and 1952, winning silver at the latter edition. The new oldest living Olympic swimmer, meanwhile, is Erna Herbers, born May 2, 1925. Herbers represented Germany in the 100 metres backstroke swimming event at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where she was 18^th.

Oldest Olympians is also saddened to learn that American figure skater Dick Button, born July 18, 1929, died today, January 30, at the age of 95. Button represented the United States at the 1948 and 1952 Winter Olympics, winning the men’s singles tournament both times. He also won five consecutive World Championship titles between 1948 and 1952 and was runner-up in 1947. After the 1952 Games, he entered Harvard Law School and turned professional with his ice skating, in addition to working as a television commentator for several decades.

(Frank Shakespeare)

At the time of his death, Button was the oldest living American Olympic champion and oldest Olympic figure skating champion. The former distinction now goes to Frank Shakespeare, born May 31, 1930, who was a member of the gold medal-winning eights crew at the 1952 Helsinki Games. The latter titleholder is now Button’s successor, Hayes Jenkins, born March 23, 1933. Jenkins won a third consecutive Olympic gold in men’s singles by taking the crown in 1956.

Finally, as a note, our website has changed! You can now visit the most current version of our Oldest Olympians tables at https://oldestolympians.sdsu.edu/. The old site seems accessible sporadically, but we no longer have the ability to update it, so please update your bookmarks to this new link!