"I just can't finish my career" - 47-year-old legendary gymnast Oksana Chusovitina says she can't retire unless she wins a medal in home turf

Oksana Chusovitina is one of the legends in the sport of gymnastics. While several athletes tend to retire in their thirties, Oksana is outperforming everyone even at the age of 47.

While there have been constant changes in artistic gymnastics throughout the years, Oksana Chusovitina has been competing for more than three decades. So far in career, the legendary gymnast has won two Olympic medals. She won a gold medal during the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and a silver medal during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

During the Tokyo Olympics, she had said that it would be her final competition. Hence, she received a sad farewell. Fans were absent from the stands at the Tokyo Olympics to honor the legendary gymnast, but the judges, coaches and fellow athletes tried their best to give her a sendoff for everything she has given for gymnastics.

According to the official website of the Olympics, on September 30, 2021,Oksana Chusovitina had announced her decision to prepare for the Asian Games 2022. Oksana said:

"I want to tell everyone that I have decided to prepare for the Asian Games 2022. I just can't finish my career without a medal for Uzbekistan."

While everyone thought that the Tokyo Olympics was the end of Chusovitina's career, she decided to make a comeback. Speaking of the standing ovation she received during the Tokyo Olympics, the legendary gymnast said:

"There were tears of joy because so many people were supporting me. I had been preparing for things to end here, but it's impossible to be fully ready for ending your career."

But Oksana has continued training and competing, which showcases her passion for the sport. She would be really looking forward to winning a medal

---

Oksana Chusovitina focused on competing in 2024 Olympics in Paris

While Oksana had planned to compete in the 2022 Asian Games, things didn't go as planned. The 2022 Asian Games were supposed to be held from September 10 to 25 in 2022 in Hangzhou, China, but were postponed due to the COVID19 pandemic.

New dates for the Asian games have been announced. The 2022 Asian Games will be held this year from September 23 to October 8, 2023. Oksana Chusovitina has stated that she will be focusing on competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics. According to the official website of the Olympics, the legendary gymnast said:

"I thought about it well and decided that after the Asian Games, I would also prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympics."

Last year, Oksana skipped the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool to prepare for this season. In the ongoing season, her ambition would be to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics in late September at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.

The legendary gymnast started her season spectacularly by winning bronze medals in the vault event at the two World Cup stops in Cottbus and Doha. After winning the bronze medal in Cottbus, she wrote on her Instagram:

"Thank you all so much for the support. First start, first medal. More to come."

As Oksana Chusovitina had mentioned, everyone knows that there are still more victories and medals to come from the legendary gymnast.