Ágnes Keleti has worn many hats in her 103 years on earth. A shortlist includes being an Olympic gymnast, Holocaust survivor, professional cellist, gymnastics coach, political refugee and college instructor. But perhaps most celebratory is the fact that Ágnes is the current oldest living Olympian, as well as the longest living Olympian ever. She is the second-most decorated Jewish female Olympian, won the most medals of anyone at the 1956 Olympics and is tied for the most Olympic medals won by a Hungarian athlete.
Ágnes Klein (later Keleti) was born on January 9, 1921 in Budapest, Hungary. She began gymnastics at a Jewish club at age four, where her father quickly recognized her athletic talent. In 1937, at age 16, Ágnes won the Hungarian national gymnastics competition. She won that title ten more times. Ágnes was ready to be the star of the 1940 Olympics when World War II broke out and canceled the Games. The other consequences of the war followed quickly.
As the Nazis entered Hungary, Ágnes’ new reality set in. She was kicked out of her gym for being Jewish and went into hiding. Ágnes had heard married women would not be sent to the concentration camps, so she swiftly married fellow Hungarian gymnast István Sárkány, whom she stayed married to for the duration of the war. Ágnes bought papers identifying her as a Christian girl and worked both as a maid and in an arms factory in a remote village. This income allowed her to sneak food to her mother and sister who were hiding in a safe house run by Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, the man responsible for safeguarding and saving 10,000 Hungarian Jews. Unfortunately, the entire family was not so lucky. Her father and many of their relatives died in Auschwitz. They were among the 555,000 Hungarian Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust.
In 1946, Ágnes was ready to make her name known on the international gymnastics stage once again. She won the Hungarian national championship again, followed by the Central European Gymnastics Championship the next year. Leading up to the 1948 London Olympics, Ágnes was cognizant that most gymnasts reach their prime in their teens and early twenties – she was now 27. In their last practice two days before the Olympics, Ágnes tore a ligament in her ankle, ruling her out of the competition. She would have to wait for her turn again.
In true redemption fashion – for the hurt ankle, for losing years of training, for the treatment of her people in World War II – Ágnes showed up four years later at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics ready to win. She was 31, the age when most gymnasts have already been retired for a few years. She took home gold on floor exercise, silver in the team all-around and bronze in uneven bars and team portable apparatus. (The latter event was only included in the Olympic program in 1952 and 1956, and is similar to rhythmic gymnastics.) At the following Olympics in 1956 in Melbourne, Ágnes became the most successful Olympian of the entire Games, winning gold on balance beam, floor exercise, uneven bars and team portable apparatus, and silver in the individual and team all-around. At the age of 35, she became the oldest gymnast to win a gold medal, a title which she still holds.
Ágnes never went home after the 1956 Olympics. The Soviet Union had invaded Hungary a few weeks prior, and not wanting to live through political unrest once again, Ágnes and 44 other Hungarian athletes pleaded political asylum to Australia. She coached Australian gymnasts and worked in a factory until she moved to Israel six months later. In Israel, Ágnes competed in the 1957 Maccabiah Games, was able to reunite with her mother and sister, remarried and had two children. She taught physical education at the Wingate Institute sports training facility, where Israel’s best athletes train. She is also credited as the founder of the Israeli national gymnastics team, for whom she bought all the equipment and restructured their training curriculum to launch them to success.
Gymnastics has been a huge part of Ágnes’ life, but she believes “there’s more to life than sports.” Much of why she loved being a top gymnast was the opportunities it provided her to travel the world and see so many new places. During Hungary’s communist era, few people but athletes could do that. Ágnes also found time to be a professional cellist while being an elite gymnast, and later taught her children music while working as a gymnastics coach. Her son describes her as “wonder woman” for so perfectly balancing household duties, work and celebrity responsibilities. In recent years, Ágnes has become an advocate against overtraining young gymnasts, emphasizing that developing their minds and fostering a love for the sport and life is more important than exhausting them in the gym all day.
In 2015, Ágnes finally returned home to Budapest for good, and was celebrated by Hungary with the respect and triumph she waited decades for. She was named one Hungary’s “Twelve Athletes of the Nation,” and was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Hungarian Sports Hall of Fame, International Gymnastics Hall of Fame and the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame. Hungary provides Ágnes with a monthly stipend for being an Olympic champion, and her picture adorns a building in Budapest. She is also a recipient of the esteemed Herzl Prize – one of only two athletes to ever receive it – and the Israel Prize, the highest honor bestowed upon someone by the State of Israel. Arguably most excitingly, Ágnes also has an asteroid (265594 Keletiágnes) named in her honor.
Now a centenarian, Ágnes’ doctor advised her it is finally time to stop doing the splits. But still does high kicks, and regularly practiced gymnastics into her 90s. Ágnes believes that joy comes first, no matter what. Today, she enjoys learning languages, exercising and staying “strong and silly.” In her nomination for the Israel Prize, the committee described Ágnes as “A unique, powerful and brilliant woman. A trailblazing woman, a leader and a role model to her students in Israel and across the world who lives among us and is still considered to be one of the greatest gymnasts in history.”
For a woman who has faced so much adversity, she has a deep love of life and found time to accomplish everything possible in gymnastics and beyond, letting no one stop her and paving the way for others. When remembering Jewish gymnasts, Ágnes belongs right beside other legends like Aly Raisman and Kerri Strug. She is the epitome of unwavering strength, perseverance and determination, and continually made space to share her expertise with others. She has shown the world, 103 years and 10 Olympic medals later, that Jewish women are world-class athletes and so much more.
