Agnes Keleti: The oldest living Olympic champion dies aged 103

Hungarian gymnast Agnes Keleti has died at the age of 103, according to Hungarian State News. She was admitted to the hospital on December 25th after suffering from pneumonia.

Keleti is a holocaust survivor and was the oldest living Olympic gold medallist after becoming an Olympic champion at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics.

Her career was interrupted by the Second World War and the cancellation of the 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games. Because she was a Jew during the time, she was forced off her gymnastics team.

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During the Nazi occupation of Hungary, she survived the holocaust after taking up a false identity and working as a maid. Her mother and sister survived the war, but her father and other relatives were killed at Auschwitz concentration camp.

After narrowly surviving the War, Keleti set her sights on competing at the 1948 London Olympic Games, but a last-minute ankle injury threw away her dreams.

It looked like time was running out for Keleti to compete at the Olympic Games, but at 31, the gymnast competed in the 1952 Games in Helsinki, winning a gold medal in the floor discipline, one silver medal, and two bronzes.

At the 1956 Games in Melbourne, the Hungarian won four gold medals and two silvers, becoming the most successful athlete of the Games.

After becoming the oldest gymnast to win a gold medal at the age of 35, the Soviet Union invaded Hungary. Instead of going home, she was granted political asylum by Australia.

She eventually moved to Israel the following year and remained a trainer and coached the Israeli Gymnastics team until the 1990s.

According to the Associated Press, speaking on her 100th birthday, Keleti said: "These 100 years felt to me like 60. I live well. And I love life. It's great that I'm still healthy." RIP to an Olympic hero.

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