After more than 30 years of brilliant career, the oldest female gymnast to participate in the Olympics finally announced her retirement.
Oksana Chusovitina confirmed that she was hanging her tights The second day of the Tokyo Olympics, Sunday, this is her eighth consecutive participation in the Olympic Games.
The 46-year-old failed to qualify for the vault finals after finishing 14th. After finishing her last Olympic game, she waved to the empty stand in tears.
She received a standing ovation from other contestants and judges, who knew they had witnessed the last chapter of a record-breaking career, and recently saw her compete with girls less than half her age.
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The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) quoted Chusovetina as saying, Say: “It’s really great. I cried happy tears because so many people have supported me for a long time. I didn’t see the results, but I feel very proud and happy. I want to say goodbye to sports.”
She went on to say: “It’s a bit complicated. I’m still alive, I’m very happy, I am not injured here, I can stand up by myself!”
This is not the first time Chusovetina has announced her withdrawal from the sport. But this time it was true, she confirmed. “I am 46 years old. Nothing can change my mind.” USA Today To quote her.
For decades, Chusovetina represented the Soviet Union (Soviet Union), the unified team, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Germany and Uzbekistan.She is one of the few athletes who represent various national teams in competitions Olympic Games.
Chusovitina played for the Soviet Union for the first time, participated in the 1990 Goodwill Games and the following year’s World Championships, and won the gold medal.
In 1992, she represented the unified team in Barcelona for the first time in the Olympic Games and won the gold medal. Since then, she has appeared in every Olympic Games and is the only female gymnast to receive this honor.
Her list of medals and records continues.Officially with Chusovitina The oldest female gymnast to participate in the Olympics, There are five vaults named after her. Her trophy cabinet has about 32 medals, 9 of which are gold medals.
Although geopolitical changes made her transfer from the Soviet Union to her hometown of Uzbekistan, her son was the reason for her participation in the German competition. Chusovitina welcomed Alisher in 1999, but he was diagnosed with leukemia a few years later.
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She moved to Germany to allow him to receive treatment. On behalf of the country, she expressed her gratitude to you for helping to pay for his medical expenses. Her game prizes were also used for his recovery.
“If I have to go back in time, I don’t want to repeat the time when my child was sick. But all other moments, I am happy to repeat,” British Broadcasting Corporation To quote her.
Chusovitina is also one of the few gymnasts who returned to international competitions after becoming a mother.
Her last few games, Chusovitina posing with her gymnast, Most of them are younger than her son. As an iconic figure of the sport, her retirement announcement aroused compliments and admiration from competitors.
U.S. Olympic medalist Ali Lesman, Tweet: “Oksana Chusovitina 1992 Olympic venue. This is the 8th Olympic Games of Oksana Chusovitina! There is no word to describe how impressive it is. Forever idol. Good luck to Oksana! I am very happy to see it.”
Spanish gymnast Marina Gonzalez (Marina Gonzalez) also participated in the Tokyo Olympics vaulting competition. She shared photos of the two and wrote on Twitter: “Perseverance, courage, and most importantly, break the stereotypes. Impressions. Admire Oksana Chusovitina (Oksana Chusovitina)”
And to capture the atmosphere in the stadium, FIG tweeted: “For #ArtisticGymnastics legend Oksana Chusovitina, she stood up and applauded during her last @Olympics bow instead of dry eyes. This 46-year-old became an Olympian 8 times today, Participate in the Vault competition for the last time on @Tokyo2020.”
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