40-year old gymnast qualifies for record 7th Olympics

Oksana Chusovitina will be aiming for a third Olympic medal after striking gold in 1992 and silver in 2008. Screen Grab from @oksana2016 Instagram page.

Age is most definitely just a number for Uzbekistan’s 40-year-old supreme athlete, Oksana Chusovitina, as she becomes the first female gymnast to compete in a record-setting seventh Olympic Games, after qualifying for Rio 2016.

Chusovitina, who’ll be 41 once the tournament begins on August 5 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, sealed her spot during Sunday’s (Monday, Manila time) final qualifying event in Glasgow, Scotland.

The seasoned veteran’s illustrious international career has taken her all over the world with stints representing the Soviet Union, Unified Team and Germany, before switching back to her native country of Uzbekistan.

Her efforts netted her a total of two Olympic medals—gold in 1992 and silver in 2008—including 11 World Championship titles in a total of 14 tries.

Fox Sports, meanwhile, shared a 31-second video of the veteran in action in their official Facebook page on Wednesday:

Gymnastics is usually dominated by athletes in their 20’s, which makes Chusovitina feat much more impressive as she usually goes against opponents half her age.

“The sport’s harder now than it’s ever been,” said double Olympic gold medalist Bart Conner. “So to do it at an advanced age is mind-boggling.”

Citing reports from USAToday, the Uzbekistani had originally planned to stop competing after finally winning her first individual Olympic medal in Beijing, however the spirit of competition kept her coming back for more.

“We are women,” said the Olympian when asked about her change of heart. “We say one thing and then we change our mind.”

Chusovitina has qualified for every Olympic tourney since making her debut in 1992. Khristian Ibarrola, INQUIRER.net