Ágnes Keleti, the world’s oldest living Olympic champion, has died at 103 years old. On her path to victory, she faced more obstacles than most.
Keleti was born Ágnes Klein in Budapest, Hungary, in 1921. She pursued a career in gymnastics. She dreamed of competing in the Olympic games. Then World War II broke out. Officials canceled the 1940 and 1944 Olympics.
Bigger troubles brewed for Keleti and her family. The Kingdom of Hungary joined forces with the Axis powers—Italy, Japan, and Nazi Germany. The nation turned hostile toward its Jewish people—and Keleti had Jewish ancestry. In 1941, she was forced from her gymnastics team because of that ancestry.
Keleti fled to the Hungarian countryside. She survived the Holocaust by taking on a false identity and working as a maid. Her mother and sister also survived the war. But her father and other relatives lost their lives in the Holocaust. They were killed at the Auschwitz* concentration camp, where the Nazis murdered more than a half million Hungarian Jews.
In the face of tragedy, Keleti didn’t give up. She returned to her gymnastics career. She was set to compete at the 1948 London Olympics. But in the last training session before the games, she injured her ankle. She went on crutches—and the Olympics went on without her.
Finally, she made it to the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. At 31 years old, she won a gold medal, a silver medal, and two bronzes. She competed again at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. She was the most successful athlete of those games, with four gold and two silver medals.
But Keleti’s troubles weren’t over. While competing in Melbourne, the Soviet Union invaded her home country. She chose to stay in Australia. Later, she moved to Israel. She coached the Israeli Olympic gymnastics team until the 1990s.
On December 25, 2024, a case of pneumonia sent her to the hospital. She passed away in her home city of Budapest.
Keleti’s life reminds us that God has a plan, even when tragedy comes and our own plans fail. Her Olympic dreams were delayed for years. She suffered tragedy. She lost and regained her home—twice.
The Associated Press interviewed Keleti the day before her 100th birthday. “These 100 years felt to me like 60,” she said. “I live well. And I love life.”
So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. — Psalm 71:18
* January 27 is Holocaust Remembrance Day. For more information about Auschwitz, click “Video” above for our original 2020 report remembering the 75th anniversary of the liberation of those held at the concentration camp.
