“I feel like every year that I’m competing I’m leaving a little part of myself behind,” Oksana Chusovitina said after being inducted into the Gymnastics Hall of Fame back in 2017. As the only gymnast to compete in eight Olympic Games, she aimed for a record-breaking ninth in the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, her dreams hit a roadblock. But does that mean the end of the journey for the legendary gymnast? Absolutely not! In an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, Oksana opened up about her new goal: the LA 2028 Olympics. She shared insights on everything from her super supportive husband to balancing life as a mom and navigating the mental and physical rollercoaster that is gymnastics.

Missing Paris 2024 to eyeing LA 2028: Oksana Chusovitina is not done yet

The 2024 Asian Gymnastics Championships in May were supposed to be Oksana Chusovitina’s last shot at qualifying for the Paris Olympics through her all-around score. But life had other plans. Just one day before the competition, during official training, she got injured and had to withdraw on May 23. Talking about the heartbreaking injury that ended her Olympic streak, she told EssentiallySports, “Unfortunately, injuries happen in every athlete’s career. It can not be avoided.” She added, “For me it was doubly disappointing to get injured the day before the start of the Asian championship in Tashkent, where the remaining bids to the Games in Paris were awarded. However, as they say, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” 

Despite sitting out Paris, Oksana isn’t backing down. She’s already eyeing the 2028 LA Olympics because fifty is just the new starting line for this legend! At the Rio Olympics in 2016, Oksana Chusovitina became the oldest gymnast to ever compete at the Olympic Games at 41. Missing out on a spot for Paris at 49 hasn’t dashed her hopes, though. This legendary gymnast will be 53 when the LA Games roll around, and she’s already announced her plans to qualify. In a sport where most gymnasts retire before 30, what keeps her going?

Oksana shared, “I do what I really love, this is my motivation. I love gymnastics, I love training. And I want to continue doing what I love.” So what does a typical day look like for this gymnastics Hall of Famer? “I wake up in the morning like an ordinary person. I have breakfast, walk the dog, go to training – I do everything with pleasure. Correct loads and proper recovery probably are to help. I love the sauna, swimming pool, if I feel that the muscles in my legs are clogged, I do a light relaxing massage.” But along with her passion for the sport, she also has a solid support system cheering her on.

Oksana’s wrestler husband aced fatherhood and double duty to keep her dreams soaring

After her second Olympic run, Oksana Chusovitina got married to Uzbek Olympic wrestler Bakhodir Kurbanov in late 1997, after they first crossed paths at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima. Their bond has only grown stronger since then. Chatting about Bakhodir’s role as her rock, Oksana told us, “My husband Bakhodir is my reliable support. He completely takes care of the housework while I am at training camps or competitions.”

Alongside her successful career, Oksana Chusovitina opened a school and gymnastics academy in Tashkent and her husband is all in on this dream too. She said, “In March of this year, an Academy opened under my name in Tashkent, where children from all over Uzbekistan of different ages study. Bakhodir also conducts all administrative work there at the Academy, while I compete.” She even mentioned she’s excited about the new equipment deliveries and is looking forward to full operation by September.

It seems like the whole family has a soft spot for kids. Their son, Alisher, born in November 1999, is now 26 and living in Germany. When asked if he’s into gymnastics like his mom, Oksana Chusovitina shared, “Alisher is already an adult young man; he lives in Germany now, where he works as a teacher and basketball coach, he really likes both basketball and the process of teaching kids.” Chusovitina is one of the rare female gymnasts to make a comeback to international competitions after becoming a mother. So, how did she juggle motherhood with being an elite gymnast?

Oksana Chusovitina admits that embracing motherhood alongside being an Olympic-level competitor wasn’t a walk in the park. “Of course, combining the role of a mother and a career as a professional athlete was very difficult,” she said. “The most difficult period is when the child is too small to do without his mother. Then I tried to spend as much time as possible with my son. Then, when Alisher grew up, it became much easier. Of course, my husband and my mother helped me a lot.” But Chusovitina’s journey in gymnastics began long before motherhood.

Critics, Beware! Oksana’s age-defying approach keeps the spotlight on barrier breakers in gymnastics

Oksana Chusovitina won the USSR Junior Nationals in 1988 and started competing internationally in 1989—back when many of her current rivals weren’t even born yet. Fast forward to February 25, 2024, and Oksana posted a humble bowing picture on Instagram, captioning it, “I want to tell you that I qualify for the Olympic Games only on vault! Our young gymnasts are selected for the remaining apparatus. I don’t take away or take away anyone’s space.”

When we asked her about critics who argue that older gymnasts might be snagging opportunities from younger talents, Oksana made it clear: it’s not about age but about fair play. “My career continues,” she said. Speaking on behalf of older athletes like herself, Simone Biles, Johanna Quaas, and others who continue to push the boundaries of the sport, she added, “As for young athletes, when going into the gym at competitions or in training, we are all on equal terms, regardless of age, and everyone has the same task: to show their best result, everything depends on it, and not on age.” 

As the chat went on, we dug deeper into Oksana Chusovitina’s thoughts on the current issues in gymnastics. Last year, Australian gymnast Heath Thorpe made waves on X by pointing out a striking fact: Simone Biles, despite her incredible success, was earning next to nothing from prize money. Thorpe tweeted, “It is wild to me that you can be as successful as Simone Biles in gymnastics and earn essentially ZERO dollars from prize money.” While most athletes on Sportico’s “Top 15 Highest-Paid Female Athletes 2023” list rake in significant earnings from their sports, Biles showed nearly $0 in salary and winnings, though endorsements did bring in $8.5 million.

When discussing this disparity, Oksana Chusovitina weighed in, “If you compare it with other sports, with football (soccer), for example, then yes, artistic gymnastics is, to put it mildly, not a rich sport. But, as elsewhere, in sports or in everyday life, everything depends on the personal needs of a particular person.” She went on to explain, “Let’s say, if a person generally needs little in life, for example, only training and a favorite sport, then gymnastics is the ideal place to find harmony with oneself,” she said laughingly. This simplicity of Oksana Chusovitina also shone through when she talked about the mental and physical rollercoaster of gymnastics.

Where mental strength and passion outlast talent

Chusovitina’s career has been a whirlwind, with stints on three different national teams—Unified Team, Uzbekistan, and Germany—plus the personal ups and downs, like when her son Alisher was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in 2002. That big move to Germany was crucial for better treatment, thanks to Shanna and Peter Brüggemann. Even though she trained there from 2003 to 2006, she couldn’t get German citizenship right away, so she kept competing for Uzbekistan and snagged vault gold at the 2003 World Championships.

She finally got German citizenship in 2006. With all those hurdles, it’s clear they took a toll on her emotionally. But her mental fortitude is remarkable. So, how does she handle health challenges today? Oksana Chusovitina put it simply: “I was lucky from a genetic point of view. My mom and dad passed on good genes. Thanks to this, as well as my love for artistic gymnastics, I still perform. Injuries, of course, happen.”

Facing this struggle like many other stars who missed out on their Olympic spots this year due to injuries, she said, “Not a single professional athlete’s career is complete without them. Each of them is disappointment and missed opportunities. In May, the day before the start of the Asian Championships, I received an injury, due to which I was forced to miss the tournament where tickets to the Olympic Games in Paris were awarded.”

Gymnastics is notoriously tough on the body, making Oksana Chusovitina’s longevity in the sport nothing short of legendary. When asked what younger gymnasts could learn from her approach to staying power, she said, “The main thing in professional sports is the character. Talent, of course, is also important, but without character, no matter how talented an athlete is, he will not achieve much in professional sports. Character is needed for hard and exhausting work in training; it is in training that the basis for success is laid.”

Oksana Chusovitina is a true living gymnastics icon. She is the only gymnast to compete in eight Olympic Games and has represented three different national teams: the Unified Team in 1992, Uzbekistan from 1996 to 2020, and Germany in 2008 and 2012. She has also won two Olympic medals: a team gold in 1992 and an individual silver on vault in 2008.

When chatting about how her achievements are recognized globally, she said, “Much depends on the popularity of artistic gymnastics in a particular part of the world and a particular country. For example, in Uzbekistan, Russia and China they know and love me, it’s impossible to just go out into the street. In other countries it is calmer, but this is because, in general, artistic gymnastics is less popular there than other sports.”

Reflecting on Oksana Chusovitina’s incredible journey from age six to now, it’s clear that her passion for gymnastics keeps her dreams alive. What do you think of this living legend and her chat with EssentiallySports? Share your thoughts in the comments below!