The Olympic champion, Ágnes Keleti, visited László Papp and Ferenc Puskás in Madame Tussauds Budapest.
Madame Tussauds Budapest welcomed a special guest: the five-time Olympic champion and most successful contestant in Hungarian gymnastics, Ágnes Keleti, visited the production. She was especially curious about László Papp and Ferenc Puskás.The number of Hungarian Olympic gold medals per square meter has skyrocketed in the sports hall of Madame Tussauds Budapest.
The wax figures of Ferenc Puskás, László Papp and Katinka Hosszú can be seen in one of the rooms of Palazzo Dorottya, where the production is located. The three of them won a total of 7 gold medals for the country. As soon as Ágnes Keleti entered the room, this number immediately increased to 12, since the Athlete of the Nation won 10 medals at the Olympics in Helsinki and Melbourne, including five of the brightest ones.
Photo: Madame Tussauds Budapest
Prince Philip asked her to repeat her performance
In Australia, Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was the main patron of the event, who missed the winning performance, so he asked the Hungarian gymnasts to repeat their fantastic performance. Ágnes Keleti reached many heights during her sports career: she is the most successful competitor in Hungarian gymnastics, she collected a gold, silver and bronze medal each at the 1954 World Championships in Rome, she is a four-time college world champion and won the Hungarian championship 46 times.
It is unbelievable from today’s perspective, but Ágnes Keleti won her first Olympic victory at 31 and reached the top at the next Olympics at 35. After retiring from active competition, she worked as a national team captain and taught in Israel, and is celebrated as the founder of gymnastics in the country. Ágnes Keleti, now 103 years old, is the world’s oldest Olympic champion.
Photo: Madame Tussauds Budapest
Ágnes Keleti, Ferenc Puskás and László Papp ‘reunion’
Ágnes Keleti enjoyed looking at the sights of Madame Tussauds Budapest and was understandably curious about her legendary acquaintances. Their careers were completely intertwined with László Papp: they competed together in Helsinki and Melbourne, where they both achieved historic sports successes.
Ágnes Keleti saw László Papp’s figure and remarked: “We haven’t seen each other in a long time”. Ferenc Puskás also won gold in Helsinki as a member of the Hungarian national team. In July 1954, they were on the cover of Népsport together, as the national football team reached the finals of the World Championship, and Keleti won the World Gymnastics Championship in Rome.
In addition, the gymnast won the gold in the same stadium that Puskás and the team opened a year earlier with a three-goal victory against the Italians. Ágnes Keleti also observed the figure of Katalin Karády with great interest. In the cafe, the production staff awaited the Olympic champion with her favourite sweets, ice cream.
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