Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Ágnes Keleti, Holocaust Survivor and Oldest Living Olympic Medal Winner, Dies at 103
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 1 month ago on
January 2, 2025

Agnes Keleti, former Olympic gold medal winning gymnast, smiles at her apartment in Budapest, Hungary Wednesday Jan. 8, 2020. (AP/Laszlo Balogh)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

BUDAPEST — Ágnes Keleti, a Holocaust survivor and the oldest living Olympic medal winner, has died. She was 103.

Keleti died Thursday morning in Budapest, the Hungarian state news agency reported. She was hospitalized in critical condition with pneumonia on Dec. 25.

Olympic Triumph Amid Adversity

She won a total of 10 Olympic medals in gymnastics, including five golds, for Hungary at the 1952 Helsinki Games and the 1956 Melbourne Games. She overcame the loss of her father and several relatives in the Holocaust to become one of the most successful Jewish Olympic athletes.

“These 100 years felt to me like 60,” Keleti told The Associated Press on the eve of her 100th birthday. “I live well. And I love life. It’s great that I’m still healthy.”

Surviving the Holocaust

Born Ágnes Klein in 1921 in Budapest, her career was interrupted by World War II and the cancellation of the 1940 and 1944 Olympics. Forced off her gymnastics team in 1941 because of her Jewish ancestry, Keleti went into hiding in the Hungarian countryside, where she survived the Holocaust by assuming a false identity and working as a maid.

Her mother and sister survived the war with the help of famed Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, but her father and other relatives perished at Auschwitz, among the more than half a million Hungarian Jews killed in Nazi death camps and by Hungarian Nazi collaborators.

Olympic Success and Exile

Resuming her career after the war, Keleti was set to compete at the 1948 London Olympics, but a last-minute ankle injury dashed her hopes.

Four years later, she made her Olympic debut at the 1952 Helsinki Games at the age of 31, winning a gold medal in the floor exercise as well as a silver and two bronzes. In 1956, she became the most successful athlete at the Melbourne Olympics, winning four gold and two silver medals.

While she was becoming the oldest gold medalist in gymnastics history at age 35 in Melbourne, the Soviet Union invaded Hungary following an unsuccessful anti-Soviet uprising. Keleti remained in Australia and sought political asylum. She then immigrated to Israel the following year and worked as a trainer and coached the Israeli Olympic gymnastics team until the 1990s.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Judge Says Fresno Can Change Street Names: Cesar Chavez Blvd Lawsuit Tossed

DON'T MISS

The Aga Khan, Spiritual Leader of Ismaili Muslims and a Philanthropist, Dies at 88

DON'T MISS

Trump Wants US to Take Ownership of Gaza and Redevelop It After Palestinians Are Resettled

DON'T MISS

Fresno High-Speed Chase Ends in Arrests After Crash, Standoff

DON'T MISS

NFL Commish Calls Chiefs Conspiracy Theory ‘Ridiculous’ but Terrell Owens Floats One

DON'T MISS

Where Will Californians Rally During Nationwide Protest Against Trump Administration?

DON'T MISS

Estee Lauder to Cut up to 7,000 Jobs as Sales Slide

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Arrest Three, Seize Ghost Gun and Drugs

DON'T MISS

Mexico Deploys 10,000 National Guard Members to US Border: What to Know

DON'T MISS

Trump Says the ‘Gaza Thing Has Never Worked’

UP NEXT

The Aga Khan, Spiritual Leader of Ismaili Muslims and a Philanthropist, Dies at 88

UP NEXT

Trump Wants US to Take Ownership of Gaza and Redevelop It After Palestinians Are Resettled

UP NEXT

Fresno High-Speed Chase Ends in Arrests After Crash, Standoff

UP NEXT

NFL Commish Calls Chiefs Conspiracy Theory ‘Ridiculous’ but Terrell Owens Floats One

UP NEXT

Where Will Californians Rally During Nationwide Protest Against Trump Administration?

UP NEXT

Estee Lauder to Cut up to 7,000 Jobs as Sales Slide

UP NEXT

Visalia Police Arrest Three, Seize Ghost Gun and Drugs

UP NEXT

Mexico Deploys 10,000 National Guard Members to US Border: What to Know

UP NEXT

Trump Says the ‘Gaza Thing Has Never Worked’

UP NEXT

First Military Flight Departs to Send Migrants to Guantanamo Bay

Fresno High-Speed Chase Ends in Arrests After Crash, Standoff

5 hours ago

NFL Commish Calls Chiefs Conspiracy Theory ‘Ridiculous’ but Terrell Owens Floats One

5 hours ago

Where Will Californians Rally During Nationwide Protest Against Trump Administration?

5 hours ago

Estee Lauder to Cut up to 7,000 Jobs as Sales Slide

6 hours ago

Visalia Police Arrest Three, Seize Ghost Gun and Drugs

6 hours ago

Mexico Deploys 10,000 National Guard Members to US Border: What to Know

6 hours ago

Trump Says the ‘Gaza Thing Has Never Worked’

7 hours ago

First Military Flight Departs to Send Migrants to Guantanamo Bay

7 hours ago

A Tale of Two Local Districts: Implementing the CA Classroom Cell Phone Ban

8 hours ago

Hawaii Volcano Produces Tall Lava Fountaining in Latest Episode of Kilauea Eruption

8 hours ago

Judge Says Fresno Can Change Street Names: Cesar Chavez Blvd Lawsuit Tossed

Shortly after renaming eight miles of streets in south Fresno to honor labor organizer Cesar Chavez, a group of business owners and resident...

3 hours ago

3 hours ago

Judge Says Fresno Can Change Street Names: Cesar Chavez Blvd Lawsuit Tossed

The Aga Khan, spiritual head of Ismaili Muslims, listens to a speech during the inauguration of the restored 16th century Humayun's Tomb in New Delhi, India, Sept. 18, 2013. (AP File)
4 hours ago

The Aga Khan, Spiritual Leader of Ismaili Muslims and a Philanthropist, Dies at 88

4 hours ago

Trump Wants US to Take Ownership of Gaza and Redevelop It After Palestinians Are Resettled

A hit-and-run response in Fresno led to a high-speed chase, crash, and standoff, ending in two arrests after police intervention. (CHP)
5 hours ago

Fresno High-Speed Chase Ends in Arrests After Crash, Standoff

5 hours ago

NFL Commish Calls Chiefs Conspiracy Theory ‘Ridiculous’ but Terrell Owens Floats One

The 50501 Movement, a grassroots protest effort organizing demonstrations in all 50 states on February 5 to oppose fascism, emphasizes peaceful action and local participation, with planned protests at key sites, including California’s state Capitol. (GV Wire Composite)
5 hours ago

Where Will Californians Rally During Nationwide Protest Against Trump Administration?

6 hours ago

Estee Lauder to Cut up to 7,000 Jobs as Sales Slide

Three people were arrested on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Visalia after police found a ghost gun, high-capacity magazines, and drugs during a search warrant. (Visalia PD)
6 hours ago

Visalia Police Arrest Three, Seize Ghost Gun and Drugs

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend