Holocaust survivor and oldest living Olympic medallist dies

Share:
Holocaust survivor and oldest living Olympic medallist dies
Published: Jan, 02 2025 10:10

A Holocaust survivor and the oldest living Olympic medal winner has died at the age of 103. Agnes Keleti died on Thursday morning in Budapest after he was hospitalised with pneumonia on Christmas Day, the Hungarian state news agency reported. Regarded as one of the most successful Jewish Olympic athletes, Ms Keleti won 10 medals in gymnastics, including five golds, for Hungary at the 1952 Helsinki Games and the 1956 Melbourne Games.

When celebrating her 100th birthday, she said: "These 100 years felt to me like 60. I live well. And I love life. It's great that I'm still healthy.". Born Agnes Klein in 1921 in Budapest, her career was interrupted by the Second World War and the cancellation of the 1940 and 1944 Olympics.

Ms Keleti was forced off her gymnastics team in 1941 due to her Jewish ancestry. She later 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 died at Auschwitz concentration camp.

More than half a million Hungarian Jews were murdered in Nazi death camps and by Hungarian Nazi collaborators during the war. Read more from Sky News:What we know about New Orleans truck attack suspectTwo children among 12 killed in shootout after bar fight.

Share:

More for You

Top Followed