Oksana Chusovitina, the legendary gymnast and the only athlete in her sport to have competed in eight Olympic Games, has announced her ambition to make her ninth Olympic appearance at the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics. Having begun her gymnastics career in 1982, Chusovitina recently stated, "My top priority is to make it to LA." She is set to gradually prepare for her Olympic bid, starting with the upcoming Cottbus World Cup in Germany later this month, where she will compete in vault and balance beam. This event will mark her 21st appearance at the Cottbus World Cup. With a career spanning over three decades, Chusovitina has cemented herself as one of the sport’s most enduring figures. Born in 1975 when Uzbekistan was still part of the Soviet Union, she made her Olympic debut at the 1992 Barcelona Games, representing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. There, she claimed a gold medal in the team competition. Competing under the Uzbek flag until the 2004 Athens Olympics, she later obtained German citizenship to secure treatment for her son, who was battling leukemia. While representing Germany, she won a silver medal in vault at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After her son fully recovered, Chusovitina reclaimed her Uzbek citizenship in 2013 and has since competed in two more Olympic Games.

Now 50, Chusovitina remains a formidable competitor. Her most recent accolade came at the 2023 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Singapore, where she won silver in the vault event. When asked about her longevity in the sport, she explained, "I want to prove something to myself. I am constantly testing my limits to see whether I can still do this." Regarding her pursuit of the 2028 LA Olympics, she expressed a desire to break stereotypes, stating, "I want to challenge the notion that gymnastics is only for the young." Having already set the record as the oldest Olympic gymnast at 41 years and two months at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Chusovitina was forced to withdraw from the Paris Games last year due to injury. Reflecting on that time, she described it as the most challenging period of her career. However, she has since recovered and is once again ready to compete on the world stage.

(The Korea Times, February 19, 2025)