Agnes Keleti dead aged 103: Oldest living Olympic medallist passes away after being rushed to hospital on Christmas Day
THE oldest living Olympic medallist has died aged 103.
Agnes Keleti – a Holocaust survivor – won ten medals in gymnastics including five golds, for Hungary.
But she sadly passed away on Thursday morning in Budapest after being admitted to hospital with pneumonia on December 25.
Born Agnes Klein in 1921 in Budapest, her career was interrupted by the World War Two and the cancellation of the 1940 and 1944 Olympics.
She was forced off her gymnastics team in 1941 because of her Jewish ancestry and she went into hiding in the Hungarian countryside.
Agnes survived the Holocaust by assuming a false identity and working as a maid.
Her mother and sister also survived the war with the help of famed Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.
Sadly, her father and other relatives were killed at Auschwitz.
Agnes resumed her gymnastics career after the war and was due to compete in the 1948 London Olympics until suffering an ankle injury.
But she made her debut in the Games four year later in Helsinki – where she won gold, silver and two bronzes.
In 1956, Agnes became the most successful athlete at the Melbourne Olympics, winning four gold and two silver medals.
She also became the oldest gold medallist in gymnastics history at the age of 35 in Australia.
In retirement, Agnes moved to Israel and worked as a trainer and coached the Israeli Olympic gymnastics team until the 1990s.