Age-Defying Gymnast Oskana Chusovitina, 41, Returns For Her Seventh Olympic Games

In the cutthroat world of competitive gymnastics, most female competitors only participate in two Olympic games. 41-year-old mother Oskana Chusovitina is shattering that preconception by competing in her seventh games in Rio this summer. Competing for the Uzbekistan team, Chusovitina is easily double the age of some of the game’s youngest female competitors, and her career goes as far back as the 1992 Unified Team for the Soviet Republics.

Gymnast Oskana Chusovitina Takes on Competitors Half Her Age in Rio

While her continued participation in the games alone is admirable, Chusovitina is not holding back; her eight previous gold medals are a testament to her commitment; her first fault of the games earned an impressive score of 15.166, which can give her younger colleagues a run for their money.

Chusovitina is also the oldest competing gymnast in the games, with Greece’s 32-year-old Vasiliki Millousi taking the second spot.

1996 Olympic Champion Kerri Strug told DailyMail that she thought it was ‘unbelievable” that Chusovitina was still going. “She’s had a child, and to keep getting into a leotard and stay in such phenomenal shape. To be able to bear all that pounding over the years, I don’t know how she does it.” The competitor herself has said that she continues to compete because she loves gymnastics. “‘I really love the sport, I love to give pleasure to the public. I love to come out and perform for the public and for the fans.”

And what about her latest performance in Rio? “I’m alive I’m well and that means everything’s okay,” she joked with DailyMail.