Agnes Keleti, a Holocaust survivor and the oldest Olympic gold medallist, has passed away at the age of 103.
The Hungarian gymnast achieved her first Olympic gold medal at the age of 31 during the 1952 Helsinki Games and later added four more golds at the 1956 Melbourne Games. Keleti remains the oldest female gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal.
Over her career, she earned 10 Olympic medals, including five golds, making her the second most decorated Hungarian athlete in history.
Born in Budapest in 1921, Keleti won her first Hungarian gymnastics championship in 1940. However, she was banned from competing later that year due to her Jewish heritage. During World War II, Keleti avoided deportation to Nazi death camps by using false identity papers and hiding in a village near Budapest. Tragically, her father and other relatives perished in Auschwitz.
After the Melbourne Games, Keleti moved to Israel, where she married, had two children, and worked as a gymnastics coach.
The Hungarian Olympic Committee (HOC) confirmed her passing on Thursday at Budapest Military Hospital, where she was being treated for heart and respiratory issues. Keleti was just days away from celebrating her 104th birthday on January 9.