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New book on Ágnes Keleti celebrating her 100th birthday as the oldest living Olympic Champion
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Holocaust survivor Hungarian gymnast Ágnes Keleti, the world’s oldest living Olympic Champion, is still showing off as she looks forward to turning 100 on Saturday.
“I feel good, but I don’t like to look in the mirror, that’s my trick to remain young!” she told in her midtown home in Budapest last week.
A five-times Olympic champion, Keleti, who celebrates her birthday January 9, is also Hungary’s most successful gymnast, and among women the most decorated Jewish athlete in history.
Her apartment is full of mementoes and Olympic memories, photos and cups are on display everywhere
She is extremely happy while leafing through a fresh book “The Queen of Gymnastics, 100 years of Agnes Keleti” (published in Hungarian and in English as well) to mark her centenary birthday.
The authors of the book are professional journalists reporting on many Games with rich Olympic experience, Sándor Dávid and Dezső Dobor.
Keleti’s life story, including her fantastic Olympic history (not to forget about her two additional world championships victories) and Holocaust escape, appears like a movie script.
Born in 1921, she won 10 gymnastics medals in all, these victories occurred after she turned 30, including five golds, one in Helsinki (1952) and four in Melbourne (1956). She has a unique and spotless record in Hungarian Olympic history by winning three gold medals on the same day and all together four Olympic gold medals at one Olympic Games.
A high-circulation newspaper once called her „the eighth wonder of the world”, though not at the time when she was a shining star of the gymnastics world, but decades later, when she taught gymnastics and trained young people.
Even so, no one challenged this rather exaggerated description.
Her gymnastic talent raised Ágnes Keleti to Olympian heights, but it was her life as a whole and her caring personality that made her deserving all the recognition she received from around the world, especially from her “two” homelands, Hungary and Israel.
Beautiful uplifting story and what a Life.
What a Life that just “oozes” the sharing of her life and talents without seeking recognition and limelight.
Her talents, the passion that she retains to this day for gymnastics, this is the “core” of what makes this lady – a TRUE LIVING LEGION of HUNGARY – and to the World of Gymnastics.
Agnes Keleti – her life is a factual story of inspiration – which has culminated by the obvious Love & Respect she still to this day is adorned and rightfully receives.
Happy Birthday xxx.
How do I purchase her book, The Queen if Gymnastics 109 years of Agnes Keleti.
Like Shirley said, where can we buy the book?