Will the world’s longest-living Olympic Champion, Ágnes Keleti, be buried in Israel?

Israeli media outlets wrote that the world’s longest-living Olympic Champion, Ágnes Keleti, should be buried in Israel since she had Israeli citizenship. Here’s how the champion’s family decided about her burial.

Ágnes Keleti passed away after a short disease

Ágnes Keleti, the world’s longest-living Olympic Champion passed away on 1 January in Budapest’s Honvédkórház (military hospital). Keleti was hospitalised after Christmas after her state became critical. Rafael Bíró-Keleti, the younger son of the Hungarian Olympic champion, told Hungarian media then that she suffered from pneumonia and her condition worsened on Christmas Day. Therefore, she was taken to the military hospital of Budapest.

Phlegm blocked her trachea, so even doctors gave her little chance of surviving. Thankfully, the medical team managed to suck the phlegm. Therefore, she could breathe and even smile again. Mr Bíró-Keleti said the entire family hoped then that they would be able to celebrate the Olympic champions’s 104th birthday on 9 January together. Sorrowfully, the outstanding athlete’s body gave up the struggle, and she passed away on 1 January.

Barely survived the Holocaust

Keleti, born Klein, began her athletic journey in 1937, and, by 1940, she won the first national championship. Then, her career was halted by the discriminatory laws of Hungary, and she could barely survive the Holocaust using falsified identity papers under an assumed name in Szalkszentmárton. But her father never returned from the death camps. Her mother and her sister were rescued by Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.

After the war, she continued her sports career and earned a degree from the College of Physical Education. Between 1947 and 1956, Keleti amassed an unparalleled 46 national titles, including ten all-around championships and seven team victories. She remains the most decorated Hungarian gymnast, a testament to her unparalleled skills and dedication.

1952 and 1956 Olympics put the glory on her exceptional work

In 1954, at the World Championships in Rome, she claimed two golds, one silver and a bronze. A last-minute ankle injury prevented her from performing at the 1948 Olympics, but in 1952, she secured one gold, one silver and two bronzes. Her crowning achievement came at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, where she won four gold medals (floor, balance beam, uneven bars, and team with hand apparatus) and two silvers. At 35, she became the oldest gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal, setting a record that endures to this day.

With a total of 10 Olympic medals—five gold, three silver, and two bronze—Keleti ranks as Hungary’s most decorated female Olympian and second only to fencing legend Aladár Gerevich among Hungarian athletes.

Finishing her competitive career, Keleti began teaching and training the next generations. She worked in Hungary, Israel, and briefly in Italy. Her contributions extended beyond sport; she earned numerous accolades, including the Fair Play Lifetime Achievement Award, the Prima Primissima Award, and honorary citizenship in Budapest, Újpest, and Terézváros. In 2023, a documentary titled Conquering Time by Oláh Kata celebrated her life, earning recognition from the International Sports Press Association (AIPS).

Will she be buried in Israel?

Since she was an Israeli national, Israeli media raised the issue of burying the Hungarian Olympic legend in the country. However, the family seems determined. They would like to bury her in Budapest. The date of the burial is at noon on 9 January, the exceptional athlete’s birthday, Nemzeti Sport wrote. The venue is the Budapest Jewish Cemetery on Kozma Street.

Keleti’s death marks the end of an era, leaving Charles Coste, a French cyclist and 1948 Olympic gold medalist, as the oldest living Olympic champion. Ágnes Keleti’s legacy, however, remains eternal, inspiring generations to come.

Read also:

• Tragedy: Ágnes Keleti, the world’s oldest Olympic champion, passes away at 103 – read more HERE
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