Today Oldest Olympians is working towards finalizing its look into mystery competitors from the 1948 London Olympics for whom we lack both a date of birth and confirmation as to whether they are alive or deceased. Given the time that has passed, nearly all of these Olympians would be at least 90 years old, but there is a possibility that some are still alive. Today we wanted to begin looking at the many Egyptian participants who meet this definition and, since we ended on wrestlers from Korea, that is where we are going to start with Egypt.

Only one of the wrestlers, Abbas Ahmad, competed in both styles, doing so as a middleweight. In both Greco-Roman and freestyle, he was eliminated in the second round. Ahmad was the Egyptian middleweight, freestyle champion in 1943 and was competing at the senior level by 1938, so his age is likely on the older end of the scale and he is almost certainly deceased, but we have not been able to confirm this. It is also unclear where he was from, as sources have him born in Cairo but competing for an Alexandrian club, which was relatively uncommon at the time.

Kemal Munir was definitely from Cairo, although he was a member of a nearby Giza club, Tersana. He took part in the welterweight, Greco-Roman event and was also eliminated in round two. Also similar to Ahmad, he was competing as early as 1936, albeit as a light-middleweight or middleweight, and seems to have switched his weight class after World War II. In 1959, he was serving as Secretary of the Southern Provinces Wrestling Federation, but we have no information on him past that date.

Our other Cairene wrestler is Ragab El-Zaim, who was eliminated in round two of the light-heavyweight, freestyle category. El-Zaim was competing at the senior level in 1941 and was runner-up at the national championships in 1943. He went on to win a silver medal as a heavyweight at the inaugural Mediterranean Games in 1951, but after that we know no further details.

Our Alexandrian Egyptian is Ibrahim Abdel Hamid, who lasted until the end of round four of the featherweight, freestyle division. A member of the Tram Club, our earliest evidence of him competing only goes back to 1944 and, due to his common name, we have been unable to uncover any more details.

Finally, the competitor about whom we know the least is Mahmud Abdel ‘Aal, who was eliminated in round three of the flyweight, Greco-Roman tournament. Unlikely the others, we do not even know where he was from or have any details on his competitions outside of the Olympics. Thus, we find this to be a good place to end this entry, but we will be back soon with more Egyptian Olympic mysteries!

Today Oldest Olympians is continuing its look into mystery competitors from the 1948 London Olympics for whom we lack both a date of birth and confirmation as to whether they are alive or deceased. Given the time that has passed, nearly all of these Olympians would be at least 90 years old, but there is a possibility that some are still alive. Today we wanted to present the second part of our look at Korean competitors who meet this description.

(Choi Hang-Gi)

Five of the remaining competitors took part in the weightlifting tournament in London. Of them, Lee Gyu-Hyeok got the closest to the podium when he finished fourth in the bantamweight division. Na Si-Yun, meanwhile, would go on to reach the podium at a different major international tournament, taking silver as middleweight at the 1954 Asian Games, after having placed seventh as a lightweight in London. Lee Yeong-Hwan, who was 16^th as a lightweight in 1948, also took silver at the 1954 Asian Games, but as a heavyweight. Rounding out the list, Park Dong-Uk, whose name is also seen as Pak Dong-Uk, was 10^th as a bantamweight, while Choi Hang-Gi competed in the featherweight category, but did not record a mark in the military press portion and thus did not complete the event. Aside from the details mentioned above, we know nothing about the lives of any of these participants.

The rest of our athletes were all freestyle wrestlers. The most successful was Kim Seok-Yeong, who competed as a lightweight and was eliminated in round four. Kim Kuk-Fan was eliminated in round two of the featherweight division, while Han Sang-Ryong survived to round three in the bantamweight category, but only by virtue of a bye in the first round. As with the weightlifters, we do not have any biographical details on these competitors.

That addresses our Korean Olympic mysteries from 1948, which leaves us with only one more nation to cover from that tournament: Egypt. Since this is our area of specialty, we will be treating those entries with extra attention, and will start publishing them in the near future. We hope that you will join us!

Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that Italian sailor Antonio Carattino, born April 2, 1923, died July 3 at the age of 101. Carattino competed in three editions of the Olympic Games, finishing 9th in Dragon class in 1952, and 7th and 5th in the 5.5 metre class in 1956 and 1968 respectively. His entire life was spent on the open water as a sailor, and two of his older brothers, Domenico and Giuseppe, also competed in sailing at the Olympics, with the latter having lived to the age of 95.

(Giacomo Mosele)

At the time of his death, Carattino was the oldest living Italian Olympian, oldest living Olympic sailor, and oldest survivor of the 1968 Mexico City Games. The new oldest living Italian Olympian is Giacomo Mosele, born July 30, 1925, who finished 34^th in the 18 kilometers cross-country skiing event at the 1952 Oslo Games. The new oldest living Olympic sailor is Freddy Ehrström, born August 29, 1925, who was 14^th in the Star class at the 1960 Rome Games and is also the oldest living Finnish Olympian. Finally, the new oldest survivor of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics is Domini Lawrence, born May 8, 1925, who took part in the equestrian dressage tournament in 1968 and 1972. She is also the oldest survivor of the 1972 Games and the oldest living British Olympian.

Today Oldest Olympians is continuing its look into mystery competitors from the 1948 London Olympics for whom we lack both a date of birth and confirmation as to whether they are alive or deceased. Given the time that has passed, nearly all of these Olympians would be at least 90 years old, but there is a possibility that some are still alive. Today we wanted to begin looking at Korean competitors who meet this description but, since there are so many, we will be dividing them into two blog posts.

(The 1948 Korean Olympic basketball team, pictured at SBS News)

First, just as with China, there are several members of the basketball team, which finished eighth in the tournament, about whom we know very little. Bang Won-Sun, Gang Bong-Hyeon, Lee Jun-Yeong, and Lee Sang-Hun are all members of the team about whom we have no information, not even a club. For a fifth, Chang Ri-jin, who also competed in Berlin in 1936, we have more information, including a date of birth of October 28, 1917, but we have been unable to locate any information on his death.

(Lee Yun-Seok, left, and Sim Bok-Seok, right).

Secondly, we want to highlight two Korean track and field athletes. Lee Yun-Seok represented his country in the 800 and 1,500 metres events, but was eliminated in the first round of both. Sim Bok-Seok, meanwhile, was a long distance runner and he was eliminated in round one of the 5,000 metres. He was also entered into the 10,000 metres, but did not start the event. For both, we have no information about them outside of their Olympic participation.

Today Oldest Olympians is returning to its look into mystery competitors from the 1948 London Olympics for whom we lack both a date of birth and confirmation as to whether they are alive or deceased. Given the time that has passed, nearly all of these Olympians would be at least 90 years old, but there is a possibility that some are still alive. Today we wanted to look at four Chinese participants who meet the criteria:

(The Chinese 1948 Olympic basketball team, pictured at Chinaqw.com)

Three of the four who we are looking at today were members of the basketball team the placed 18^th out of 23 nations. Two of the team members moved to other countries after the Games, which may be why their subsequent activities have been difficult to trace. Cai Zhongqiang of Shanghai’s Dagong Basketball Team moved to Malaysia, while Yu Jin of the Philippine Overseas Chinese Team returned to his home nation after the Olympics. A third, Songyuan “John” Pao, was the leading scorer for the team, yet we still know almost nothing about him. This lineup, incidentally, also featured Wu Chengzhang, who is now 100 and the oldest living Chinese Olympian.

The fourth, Li Dahui, was part of the football squad that was eliminated in round one. We know more about him because, in addition to participating in the Olympic tournament, he also won a gold medal with Taiwan at the 1954 Asian Games. He was still playing in 1956, but after this information on him becomes scarce.

Today on Oldest Olympians we have two milestone birthdays, so we are continuing our tradition of writing a 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 95^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 93^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 also won 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!

Today on Oldest Olympians we have two milestone birthdays, so it is time for another blog post to cover them both in lieu of choosing between them!

First, we wanted to wish Günther Haase a happy 99^th birthday! 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, and now resides in Florida as the oldest living German Olympic medalist.

Second, French fencer Daniel Dagallier is turning 98 today! In addition to his team bronze medal from the 1956 Summer Olympics, Dagallier won five team medals – one gold and two each of silver and bronze – in the event at the World Championships between 1951 and 1958, and also took gold at the 1955 Mediterranean Games. He is now the oldest living Olympic fencing medalist.

Due to emergency circumstances, Oldest Olympians was unable to post yesterday, and thus today we wanted to provide two posts in a single blog entry.

First, Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that Czech canoeist Růžena Košťálová, born February 21, 1924, died April 12 at the age of 100. Košťálová was one half of the silver medal-winning Czechoslovakian team in the Kayak Doubles, 500 metres event at the 1948 World Championships and represented the country at that year’s Olympic Games in the Kayak Singles, 500 metres. Although she won her heat in the opening round, she finished fifth in the final. Having already won 12 national titles in the sport, she retired from active competition shortly thereafter and eventually moved to Switzerland with her family in 1968.

(Jindřich Mikulec)

At the time of her death, Košťálová was the oldest living Olympian to have represented Czechoslovakia and the oldest living Olympic canoeist. The first distinction now goes to gymnast Jindřich Mikulec, born May 11, 1928. Mikulec represented his country in the tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he was seventh in the team all-around and had a best individual finish of joint-24^th in the floor exercise. Luxembourg’s Léon Roth, meanwhile, born September 10, 1926, is now the oldest living Olympic canoeist. Roth represented his country in two events at the Helsinki Olympics, where he placed 17th in the K-1 10,000 and was eliminated in round one of the K-2 1000.

(Eric Nillson)

Secondly, today we were planning to feature Swedish track athlete Eric Nilsson, born December 26, 1926, who recently turned 97. Nilsson represented his country in the 3,000 metres steeplechase at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, but was eliminated in round one. He now resides in Arbrå.

Today on Oldest Olympians we have two milestone birthdays, so we are continuing our trend of covering both in a single blog post rather than choosing between them!

First, we want to wish a happy 94^th birthday to Miguel Seijas, the oldest living Olympic medalist from Uruguay! Seijas represented his country in the double sculls at the 1952 and 1956 Summer Games, winning bronze in the former and being eliminated in the round one repêchage in the latter.

Second, Chiharu Igaya is turning 93 as Japan’s oldest Olympic medalist! Igaya represented his country in nine alpine skiing events across three editions of the Games – 1952, 1956, and 1960 – and won a silver medal in the slalom in 1956. He also took bronze at the World Championships in that event in 1958. By career he worked in insurance, but also served in sport administration, most notably as a member of the IOC since 1982.

Today on Oldest Olympians we wanted to provide an update on an Olympian that had been listed as William C. “Bill” Brown. Brown had been identified as the track athlete who represented Great Britain in the 3,500 metres race walk at the 1908 London Olympics and was eliminated in round one. He was of note to Oldest Olympians because he was born December 7, 1878 and died August 25, 1980, which made him 101 years, 262 days old.

(Bernard Brown)

Thanks to research by Rob Gilmore, we now know that while Bill Brown did reach the age of 101 and was at one time a member of the Surrey Walking Club, he was not the individual who competed at the Games. That person, also from the Surrey Walking Club, was actually Bernard Clayton Brown, born January 8, 1878 and died March 22, 1935. Brown worked as a post office employee and was a successful rower before taking up race walking. He continued competing into his 50s.

Thus, while both Bernard and Bill had notable walking careers, only Bernard was an Olympian and only Bill was a centenarian. Thus, we have had to removed this competitor from our list of centenarians several years after having added him.