Eight-time Olympian Oksana Chusovitina gets standing ovation after vault in Tokyo qualifications

There are few gymnasts who could draw a standing ovation in an empty arena, but eight-time Olympian Oksana Chusovitina received a warm reception from her competitors and judges after competing on vault in the fourth subdivision of the women’s artistic gymnastics qualifications.

Paid tribute in a standing ovation to Oksana Chusovitina

The 46-year-old has competed in every Olympics since 1992 and has represented the Soviet Union, Germany, and Uzbekistan.

The Olympian has attended the games since the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, representing the Commonwealth of Independent states after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. That team, also known as the Unified Team, comprised representatives from former Soviet republics.

Both the men’s and women’s Unified teams earned team all-around gold medals in gymnastics.

She became a German citizen in 2006 and won a silver medal for the country at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. She had moved to Germany in 2002 when her son Alisher was diagnosed with leukemia and received treatment there.

In 2013, she began competing for Uzbekistan again. Her husband, Bakhodir Kurbanov, is also an Olympian, representing Uzbekistan in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1996 and 2000.

During the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Chusovitina became the first gymnast to appear at seven Olympic Games, according to the Olympics website.

When the 2020 Olympics were postponed due to the pandemic, she vowed to wait and compete the next year. “I want to compete in Tokyo and retire,” she said.

“I am taking it step-by-step to see how far physically my body will take me,” Chusovitina said ahead of the games. “Of course I want to do more, otherwise I would not be training.”

Chusovitina competed with two vaults during the qualifying round in Tokyo and earned an average score of 14.166. Unfortunately, the score was not high enough for her to advance, but her performance received a standing ovation.

Following the event, Chusovitina said she didn’t even look at the scores. “It was really nice. I cried tears of happiness because so many people have supported me for a long time,” she said, according to the International Federation of Gymnastics. “I didn’t look at the results, but I feel very proud and happy. I’m saying goodbye to sports.”

Olympian Aly Raisman, who last competed in the Rio Olympics, shared a video of Oksana Chusovitina from 1992. “This is Oksana Chusovitina 8th Olympics!!” Raisman tweeted.”No words to describe how impressive that is. Forever an icon. Wishing Oksana the best of luck! I’m so excited to watch.”

Chusovitina also posted about her final Olympics. “It was very hard to talk about it, I thought it would be much easier,” she wrote in both Russian and English on Instagram.

She said her sports life had “ups and downs” and “tears of joy and tears of grief, but I don’t regret it for a single minute.”

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