Oksana Chusovitina participated in eight Olympic Games in a row. Alex Fletcher
BBC Sport journalist
Published
a few minutes ago Uzbekistan's Oksana Chusovitina marked her 50th birthday with a silver medal in the vault at the Gymnastics World Challenge Cup - 33 years after she became an Olympic champion.
Chusovitina was part of a Unified Team of athletes from post-Soviet nations that won the team all-around gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games, and has competed at eight Olympics in total.
The Uzbek, a three-time world champion, continues to win medals in a sport where most athletes retire in their twenties three decades later. Competing in her native country at the International Gymnastics Federation's World Challenge Cup in Tashkent one day after her birthday, Chusovitina took vault silver behind Bulgaria's Valentina Georgieva - who, at 18, is 32 years her junior.
Since 1992, Chusovitina had participated in every summer Olympic Games up until Paris 2024. She was looking to equal the record - set by Georgian shooter Nino Salukvadze, who is the only Olympian to have competed in nine consecutive Games - for most Olympic appearances in a row last year in Paris.
However, injury ruled her out of the Asian Championships, meaning she was unable to qualify.
Tashkent always a focus with birthday in mind
In 2017, Chusovitina was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Eight years later, she is still the only member who competes. Before the Tokyo Games, she said, "I could have stopped at 25, 19, or 30, but I didn't." This was her reason for not retiring yet. I realized that aging did not make me worse; rather, it made me better, similar to fine wine. She had made it clear in February that she was targeting her home event.
"In June, on my 50th birthday, we will have a competition here in Tashkent. "I'm keeping my fingers crossed because it will be a World Challenge Cup and I really want to compete there," she stated. Earlier this month she withdrew from the Asian Championships during the final of the vault in order to ensure she could compete in Tashkent.
"If I enjoy the sport, why should I quit?"
Many gymnasts who are now retired from the sport were not even born when Oksana Chusovitina participated in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. After her team gold in Barcelona, she represented Uzbekistan at the next three Games but, after moving to Germany when her son was diagnosed with leukaemia, she gained citizenship and switched allegiances.
Her second Olympic medal was a silver in the vault while representing Germany at the 2008 Beijing Games.
She competed for Germany at the London Olympics in 2012, switched back to Uzbekistan for the Rio Olympics in 2016, and qualified for the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Chusovitina did briefly retire after the Tokyo Games, but returned to the sport just 67 days later.
She stated, when discussing the decision in 2023, "I just realized, I felt that I can do this." If the sport brings me joy, why should I quit? Previously this season she had won gold at the Baku World Cup and bronze at the Cottbus World Cup.
Chusovitina will be 53 years old when athletes arrive in Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympics, but she has not ruled out making a ninth appearance. "My number one goal is to get to Los Angeles," she said before this week's competition.
"However, I'm not thinking too far ahead because there is so much time before then. I go step by step, from one competition to the next. If it happens, it happens. In that case, no. However, I will attempt and give it my best shot."
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