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Agnes Keleti, Hungarian-Born Israeli Gymnast with 10 Olympic Medals, Dies at 103

Jan 2, 2025, 09:49 AM

Agnes Keleti, the world's oldest Olympic champion and a Holocaust survivor, has died at the age of 103. Keleti, a Hungarian-born Israeli gymnast, passed away on Thursday morning in Budapest after being hospitalized with pneumonia on December 25. She won a total of 10 Olympic medals in gymnastics, including five gold medals, for Hungary at the 1952 Helsinki Games and the 1956 Melbourne Games. Keleti's remarkable career was interrupted by World War II and the Holocaust, during which she survived by assuming a false identity and working as a maid in the Hungarian countryside. After the war, she resumed her gymnastics career, becoming one of the most successful Jewish Olympic athletes. Following the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, she sought political asylum in Australia and later immigrated to Israel, where she worked as a trainer and coach until the 1990s.