Ágnes Keleti, a Holocaust survivor who became the world's oldest living Olympic champion and later shaped Israel's gymnastics program, died Thursday in Budapest at age 103, as reported by the Associated Press.
The legendary Jewish athlete, who captured 10 Olympic medals including five golds for Hungary, passed away after being hospitalized with pneumonia on December 25. Her remarkable journey from Nazi persecution to Olympic glory made her one of the most inspiring Jewish sports figures of the 20th century.
"These 100 years felt to me like 60," Keleti told AP before her 100th birthday. "I live well. And I love life. It's great that I'm still healthy."
Born as Ágnes Klein in Budapest in 1921, she faced devastating persecution during World War II. The Nazi regime forced her off Hungary's gymnastics team in 1941 due to her Jewish heritage. She survived the Holocaust by concealing her identity and working as a maid in the Hungarian countryside. While her mother and sister survived through the protection of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, her father, and other family members perished at Auschwitz – among more than half a million Hungarian Jews murdered in Nazi death camps and by Hungarian Nazi collaborators.
After the war, Keleti rebuilt her gymnastics career. Though an ankle injury prevented her from competing in the 1948 London Olympics, she triumphed at the 1952 Helsinki Games at age 31, securing gold in floor exercise along with silver and two bronze medals. Her greatest achievement came at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, where at 35 – the oldest gymnastics gold medalist in history – she dominated the competition with four golds and two silvers.
While Keleti reached the pinnacle of Olympic success in Melbourne, the Soviet Union invaded Hungary following an unsuccessful anti-Soviet uprising. She sought asylum in Australia before immigrating to Israel in 1957, where she dedicated decades to training Israel's Olympic gymnastics team through the 1990s.
