HONORING JEWS IN SPORTS

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Agnes Keleti, Holocaust survivor and oldest living Olympic medalist, dies at 103

Hungarian-Israeli retired Olympic artistic gymnast and coach Agnes Keleti in her apartment in Budapest, Hungary, on January 8, 2023. (Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP)

(Times of Israel) — Agnes Keleti, a Holocaust survivor who coached Israel’s Olympic gymnastics teams for decades, has died. She was 103.

Keleti, who had been the oldest living Olympic medal winner, died Thursday morning in Budapest, the Hungarian state news agency reported. She was hospitalized in critical condition with pneumonia on December 25.

She won a total of 10 Olympic medals in gymnastics, including five golds, for Hungary at the 1952 Helsinki Games and the 1956 Melbourne Games. She overcame the loss of her father and several relatives in the Holocaust to become one of the most successful Jewish Olympic athletes.

“These 100 years felt to me like 60,” Keleti told The Associated Press on the eve of her 100th birthday. “I live well. And I love life. It’s great that I’m still healthy.”

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