46-year-old gymnast, Oksana Chusovitina, competed in the Tokyo Olympics 2020. This was her eighth appearance at the Olympics. She became the oldest female gymnast in the history of the Olympics in the process.
Chusovitina has previously competed for Soviet Union, Uzbekistan, and Germany. She is the only one of two female gymnasts to compete for 3 different countries in the Olympics.
She was part of the unified team in 1992. She competed with Uzbekistan in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2016, and 2020. Chusovitina was part of the German contingent in 2008 and 2012.
At 46 years old, Oksana Chusovitina just competed in her 8th Olympic Games, becoming the oldest female gymnast in Olympic history
But her story is so much more than that, as Chusovitina delayed retirement to raise money for her son's leukemia diagnosis in 2002
A legend
pic.twitter.com/yubXeNikqn
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) July 25, 2021
Chusovitina was also part of 16 world championship events so far. However, the significance of her incredible career lies beyond the astronomical numbers.
She actually delayed retirement to raise money for his son’s leukemia diagnosis in 2002. A true legendary figure in the world of gymnastics, Chusovitina once again entertained the fans by gracing the grandest stage of all in Tokyo.
Chusovitina is in fact double the age of most of the other athletes competing alongside her. This alone is enough to make the legendary figure’s achievements much more awe-inspiring.
Oksana Chusovitina: A brief look at her career achievements
Chusovitina won gold in 2003 in Anaheim at vault. She managed to win silver on multiple occasions at the world championships. She also has won 2 gold medals at the Asian Games in 2002. She became a vault world champion in 2002 Stuttgart.
Chusovitina has also bagged one Olympic medal in her career so far. She was a silver medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The 2008 European championships in Clermont also saw her being crowned as the champion.
Needless to mention, she was almost 33 years of age at that time. That number is considered as something too much for a gymnast. To imagine she is still around at 46 is nothing short of shocking.
However, her campaign at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 came to an early conclusion. She had to bid goodbye to the Summer Olympics after failing to qualify for the finals of the event.
The veteran was in tears as she walked away from the competition. But, arguably, her participation is something inspiring for the viewers of the Tokyo Olympics 2020, to say the least.
The post VIDEO: Oldest Female Gymnast Oksana Chusovitina Has an Emotional Moment at Tokyo Olympics 2020 appeared first on EssentiallySports.
from EssentiallySports https://www.essentiallysports.com/tokyo-olympic-news-video-oldest-female-gymnast-oksana-chusovitina-has-an-emotional-moment-at-tokyo-olympics-2020/
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