Historical List of the Oldest Living Olympic Champions


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All original content © 2018-2020 Paul Tchir.

Below is a historical list of individuals who have held the title of "Oldest Living Olympic Champions", organized from earliest to most recent. This table is not sortable currently.

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Last update: September 20, 2020.

Olympian Oldest from... Oldest to... Country Sport Olympic year(s) Gold Silver Bronze Total Date of birth Date of death Age at death
Georgios Orfanidis No earlier than May 11, 1938* 1942 Greece Sport shooting 1896 Athens, 1906 Athens, 1908 London 2 1 0 3 1859 1942 82 years, 1 day to 83 years, 364 days
Alfred Larsen 1942 September 10, 1950 Norway Sailing 1912 Stockholm 1 0 0 1 November 24, 1863 September 10, 1950 86 years, 290 days
Gustaf Boivie September 10, 1950 January 12, 1951 Sweden Sport shooting 1912 Stockholm 1 0 0 1 November 27, 1864 January 12, 1951 86 years, 46 days
William Pimm and Carl Hellström January 12, 1951 July 18, 1952 Great Britain and Sweden Sport shooting and sailing 1908 London, 1912 Stockholm 2 and 1 1 0 3 and 2 December 10, 1864 July 18, 1952 87 years, 221 days
Carl Hellström July 18, 1952 July 4, 1962 Sweden Sailing 1908 London, 1912 Stockholm 1 1 0 2 December 10, 1864 July 4, 1962 97 years, 206 days
Charlotte Cooper July 4, 1962 October 10, 1966 Great Britain Tennis 1900 Paris 2 0 0 2 September 22, 1870 October 10, 1966 96 years, 18 days
Charles Burnell October 10, 1966 October 3, 1969 Great Britain Rowing 1908 London 1 0 0 1 January 13, 1876 October 3, 1969 93 years, 263 days
Gaston Thubé October 3, 1969 June 22, 1974 France Sailing 1912 Stockholm 1 0 0 1 October 16, 1876 June 22, 1974 97 years, 249 days
Birger Sörvik June 22, 1974 May 23, 1978 Sweden Gymnastics 1908 London 1 0 0 1 December 4, 1879 May 23, 1978 98 years, 170 days
Paul Anspach May 23, 1978 August 28, 1981 Belgium Fencing 1908 London, 1912 Stockholm, 1920 Antwerp, 1924 Paris 2 2 1 5 April 1, 1882 August 28, 1981 99 years, 149 days
Hjalmar Levin August 28, 1981 March 8, 1983 Sweden Cycling 1912 Stockholm 1 0 0 1 June 14, 1884 March 8, 1983 98 years, 267 days
John Noel March 8, 1983 March 12, 1989 Great Britain Alpinism 1924 Chamonix 1 0 0 1 February 26, 1890 March 12, 1989 99 years, 14 days
Georges Monier March 12, 1989 October 5, 1989 Belgium Art competitions 1920 Antwerp 1 0 0 1 February 18, 1892 October 5, 1989 97 years, 229 days
Abel Kiviat October 5, 1989 August 24, 1991 United States Athletics 1912 Stockholm 1 1 0 2 June 23, 1892 August 24, 1991 99 years, 62 days
Erik Herseth August 24, 1991 January 28, 1993 Norway Sailing 1920 Antwerp 1 0 0 1 July 9, 1892 January 28, 1993 100 years, 203 days
José Álvarez January 28, 1993 December 27, 1993 Spain Equestrian 1924 Paris, 1928 Amsterdam 1 0 0 1 March 23, 1895 December 27, 1993 98 years, 279 days
André Derrien December 27, 1993 April 4, 1994 France Sailing 1928 Amsterdam 1 0 0 1 July 31, 1895 April 4, 1994 98 years, 247 days
Walter Stokes April 4, 1994 June 9, 1996 United States Sport shooting 1924 Paris 1 0 1 2 May 23, 1898 June 9, 1996 98 years, 17 days
Leon Štukelj June 9, 1996 November 8, 1999 Yugoslavia Gymnastics 1924 Paris, 1928 Amsterdam, 1936 Berlin 3 1 2 6 November 12, 1898 November 8, 1999 100 years, 361 days
Alida van den Bos November 8, 1999 July 16, 2003 Netherlands Gymnastics 1928 Amsterdam 1 0 0 1 January 18, 1902 July 16, 2003 101 years, 179 days
James Stillman Rockefeller July 16, 2003 August 10, 2004 United States Rowing 1924 Paris 1 0 0 1 June 8, 1902 August 10, 2004 102 years, 63 days
Feroze Khan August 10, 2004 April 21, 2005 India Field hockey 1928 Amsterdam 1 0 0 1 September 9, 1904 April 21, 2005 100 years, 223 days
Roger Beaufrand April 21, 2005 March 17, 2007 France Cycling 1928 Amsterdam 1 0 0 1 September 25, 1908 March 17, 2007 98 years, 173 days
Godfrey Rampling March 17, 2007 June 20, 2009 Great Britain Athletics 1932 Los Angeles, 1936 Berlin 1 1 0 2 May 14, 1909 June 20, 2009 100 years, 37 days
Attilio Pavesi June 20, 2009 August 2, 2011 Italy Cycling 1932 Los Angeles 1 0 0 1 October 1, 1910 August 2, 2011 100 years, 305 days
Sándor Tarics August 2, 2011 May 21, 2016 Hungary Water polo 1936 Berlin 1 0 0 1 September 23, 1913 May 21, 2016 102 years, 241 days
Durward Knowles May 21, 2016 February 24, 2018 Bahamas, Great Britain Sailing 1948 London, 1952 Helsinki, 1956 Melbourne, 1960 Rome, 1964 Tokyo, 1968 Mexico City, 1972 Munich, 1988 Seoul 1 0 1 2 November 2, 1917 February 24, 2018 100 years, 117 days
Lydia Wideman February 24, 2018 April 13, 2019 Finland Cross-country skiing 1952 Oslo 1 0 0 1 May 17, 1920 April 13, 2019 98 years, 331 days
Ágnes Keleti April 13, 2019 Still living Hungary Gymnastics 1952 Helsinki, 1956 Melbourne 5 3 2 10 January 9, 1921 Still living 99 years, 255 days

*There are two candidates for Oldest Living Olympic Champion prior to Georgios Orfanidis:

1. George Lyon, who won the individual golf tournament at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics, was born July 27, 1858 and died May 11, 1938, which means that he was definitely the Oldest Living Olympic Champion at some point in his life.

2. Lida Howell, who won three gold medals in archery at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics, was born August 28, 1859 and died December 20, 1938. If Orfanidis was born August 29, 1859 or later, then Howell was the Oldest Living Olympic Champion between Lyon's death and her own.

© 2018-2020 Paul Tchir