Nikita Simonyan became the oldest Olympic champion after the death of Charles Costa

Nikita Simonyan, a former USSR national football team player, became the oldest living Olympic champion after the death of French cyclist Charles Costa. Kost, the winner of the 1948 Olympic Games in the team pursuit and the world champion of the same year in the individual race, died at the age of 102. This became known on November 3.

Kost took part in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, passing the torch to track and field athlete Marie-Jose Perek and judoka Teddy Riner, who lit the Olympic bowl, according to a TASS publication.

After Kosta's death, Nikita Simonyan, who turned 99 on October 12, became the oldest living Olympic champion. Birte Kristofferssen of Denmark (101 years old), who specialized in diving, is considered the oldest living Olympic medalist. Ninel Krutova (99 years old), a bronze medalist at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, is the oldest Russian medalist.

During his career, Simonyan played for the Moscow clubs Krylia Sovetov and Spartak, with whom he became the champion of the USSR four times (1952, 1953, 1956, 1958) and twice the winner of the National Cup (1950, 1958). He is Spartak's top scorer in the club's history with 160 goals. As a member of the USSR national team, Simonyan won the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956, and in 1958 scored the first goal of the USSR national team in the final stages of the World Championships, playing in a match against England (2:2).

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