Australia's oldest Olympian dies

Australia's oldest Olympian, Helen Joy Hardon, has died at age 95.

Hardon, who represented Australia in fencing at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, had been battling illness for some time in a NSW CentralCoast nursing home.

It leaves fellow 95-year-old Forbes Carlile as the new oldest living Australian Olympic representative.

Carlile, who was born just two days after Hardon in June 1921, was a modern pentathlete at the Helsinki Games in 1952.

Having previously coached the country's swimming team at the 1948 Games in London, Carlile remains the only Australian to have coached at an Olympics before later competing at them as an athlete.