45-Year-Old Gymnastics Legend Competing Before Simone Biles Was Even Born, Wins Podium Place Ahead of Paris Olympics

In March 2023, the gymnastics legend impressed the sporting world by announcing her 9th appearance at the Olympics. While gymnastics is a sport many only perform while young, 47-year-old Oksana Chusovitina is literally proving that age is just a number. However, now with uncertainty over Simone Biles’s participation at the Paris Olympics, Chusovitina will look to give her best to win gold for her country. Nine years before Biles was born, Chusovitina had already championed in the junior division in the all-around title at the 1988 USSR National Championships.

Chusovitina has been competing at the Olympics since the 1992 Barcelona edition, where she represented the Unified Squad. She won a gold medal then and having played for Uzbekistan since, she will fancy her chances of winning her second Olympic gold for her country in Paris.

Oksana Chusovitina makes a statement with her Instagram post

10x Gold medalist recently took to her Instagram and wrote, “Well, meet me!!!! Absolute Champion of the Republic of Uzbekistan 2023”. She is making a statement loud and clear, that she won’t just be at the Paris Olympics for participation. She wants to win, and her victory at the recent championships in Uzbekistan is proof of that. In the video she posted, Chusovitina shared some of the finest routines she did at the competition.

Chusovitina won her first and only gold medal at the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992. However, she did win a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in Vault event. She was representing Germany at the time.

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Chusovitina had briefly retired after the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and didn’t speak anything about the Paris Olympics then. But her return to the gymnasium last year, and her performances since has been a solid one. However, it is not just her victory in Uzbekistan that is drawing the current in her favor.

Her exploits this year and last

Oksana Chusovitina won a bronze medal at the Cottbus and the Doha World Cup. She followed it up with a better performance at the Baku World Cup winning silver. Although she had a minor bump at the Cairo World Cup, coming in at 8th position, Chusovitina isn’t shaken. It started with her gold medal win at the Islamic Solidarity Games last year. With potentially no Simone Biles, Chusovitina might still face stiff competition from the likes of Suni Lee, Mykayla Skinner, Jade Carey, etc.

However, Chusovitina is convinced to give her best. This might also be a nice farewell to her before she finally decides to retire from international gymnastics. But as of now, she hasn’t made any such announcements and the 47-year-old gymnast just wants to keep on going.

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