She left after writing the story between beams and parallel bars. In between, two other lives: at 20 she survived after being deported by the SS, at 36 she retired to Israel to escape the revolution and gave up competitive activity. To date, she was the oldest living Olympic champion and remains the most successful Jew
A very long life that reconnects a trace spanning two centuries, or rather many lives preserved in a single existence, that of Agnes Keleti, a Hungarian gymnast of Jewish origins. In a week, next Thursday, she would have turned 104 years old, she was an extraordinary gymnast in the 40s and 50s. In her cabinet there are 10 medals – including 5 gold – won at the Olympic Games. Until she was ninety she still trained, an hour a day, including the splits. Life had put her to the test several times, yet it was as if all the pain she had experienced had slipped away, with a gust of wind. In one of her last interviews, a few years ago, when faced with a reporter who asked her to tie up the threads of the past, she replied with a smile: “The past is the past, now let’s talk about the future”.