Jewish Olympic legend Ágnes Keleti dies at 103

While her mother and sister survived through the protection of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, her father and other family members perished at Auschwitz, among more than half a million Hungarian Jews murdered in German death camps and by Hungarian Nazi collaborators.

After the war, Keleti rebuilt her gymnastics career. Though an ankle injury prevented her from competing in the 1948 London Olympics, she triumphed at the 1952 Helsinki Games at age 31, securing gold in floor exercise along with silver and two bronze medals. Her greatest achievement came at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, where at 35—the oldest gymnastics gold medalist in history—she dominated the competition with four golds and two silvers.

While Keleti reached the pinnacle of Olympic success in Melbourne, the Soviet Union invaded Hungary following an unsuccessful anti-Soviet uprising. She sought asylum in Australia before immigrating to Israel in 1957, where she dedicated decades to training Israel's Olympic gymnastics team through the 1990s.

Keleti taught physical education at Tel Aviv University, and for 34 years at the Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports south of Netanya.