Her endurance and durability are amazing in a profession that demands such a severe physical toll where gymnasts beyond the age of twenty are regarded past their expiration date. Oksana Chusovitina was educated in Uzbekistan in 1976 and began gymnastic training in 1982. She won the junior all-around title at the USSR National Championships.
In 1982, Chusovitina began gymnastics. At the age of 13, she won the all-around title in the juvenile section of the USSR National Championships in 1988.
Chusovitina was a key component of the Soviet squad by 1990, and she was sent to play in several international competitions. She won the vault at the 1990 Commonwealth Sports and nearly dominated the 1990 Global Sports Festival in Japan, taking the all-around and all save the unbalanced bars. She won the floor exercises and finished second on the vault at the 1991 Global Artistic Gymnastics Competitions. Chusovitina represented the Unified Team in the 1992 Olympics, where she shared the group gold medal and finished seventh in the floor final.
Chusovitina started playing for Uzbekistan but continued to practice with Svetlana Kuznetsova, the country’s head coach and also her private coach. Chusovitina was obliged to exercise on outmoded, and in certain cases dangerous, gear at the national training center in Tashkent, which was a big cry from the Soviet Rounds Lake training site. Despite this obstacle, she continued to perform world-class performances regularly.
From 1993 through 2006, Chusovitina participated for Uzbekistan in the 1996, to 2004 Olympics, the 1994-2002 Asian Games, as well as the 1994 and 2001 Goodwill Games. She was the most talented gymnast on the Uzbek national squad at this time, winning over 70 medals in major competitions and qualified for the Olympics 3 times.
Oksana Chusovitina is still raking in the medals more than three decades after making her global artistic gymnastics breakthrough.
The eight-time Olympian went two-for-two in medals during her first two World Cup performances in 2022, winning golden vault in Doha and silver in Cairo 2 weeks later.
The medals may appear to be more like the same for the renowned Chusovitina, but they come a little over six months after the Uzbek announced she would retire after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021.
For an exclusive interview with Olympics.com, Oksana Chusovitina said, “During the Tokyo Games, but even before the Games, I declared that I might leave professional league, that I would no longer participate.” “But, you understand, after the Games, I felt for a long time.” I’d be sorry if I gave up the sport. I chose to leave the sport uniquely, therefore I decided to begin training and continuing my athletic job to do so.”
Chusovitina remarked, “I’d like to retire with a medal for Uzbekistan.” “And, as I’ve previously stated, it doesn’t matter if it’s the Olympic Games or the Asian Games; I would still like to conclude my career on a high note with a medal.”