BEFORE SIMONE, THERE WAS OKSANA…..

Staying on the gymnastics theme here, we acknowledge Oksana Chusovitina. Nine years before Simone Biles was born, Oksana won the USSR (yes, the Soviet Union!) junior championships in 1988. And in the Tokyo Olympics, at the age of 46, she will be competing against Simone.

Oksana, 2nd from right, with Simone (courtesy: USA Gymnastics)

Here are some amazing achievements of Oksana:

• Only gymnast to compete in seven Olympic Games! Tokyo will be her eighth!

• Has competed under three different flags - Soviet Union/Unified Team, Germany and Uzbekistan.

• She has competed in 16 world championships and has the record for most medals in a single event.

Oksana was already an legend in her home country of Uzbekistan in 2001. 20 years before she competes in Tokyo, she was a honored with her likeness on a Uzbek stamp.

Oksana returned to competition after becoming a mom in 1999; her son is almost the same age as Simone!

For Tokyo, she is practicing the “Vault of Death”, which is so considered so difficult only a few gymnasts have even attempted it. Oksana’s career is a great example, and her own words summarize the lesson for us -

When you are on the podium nobody is asking you if you are 15 or 30 years old. What matters is who can do great gymnastics.

Oksana Chusovitina

[https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/11/world/oksana-chusovitina-olympic-gymnast-profile/index.html]