Evergreen Oksana Chusovitina shows no sign of stopping as she aims for her ninth Olympics

SINGAPORE – Decked in a sparkly white and light pink leotard, Oksana Chusovitina breaks into a run before launching herself off the vault and finishing her routine with a combination of twists and somersaults, much to the delight of a 700-strong crowd at the OCBC Arena on Saturday.

At 47, she shows no sign of stopping, displaying an elegance and athleticism that earned her a silver in the vault at the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Singapore among a field of gymnasts who are mainly in their teens and early 20s.

Saturday’s silver is just the latest addition to her trophy cabinet, which also contains a gold and silver from the Olympics and several world titles. She has been to eight Olympics and is eyeing a ninth at Paris 2024.

On what keeps her going, she said: “I can’t speak for all athletes. I like it... I love gymnastics.

“And when you do your job with joy, it brings you great joy. So I don’t go to the training hall because it is necessary. I go because I like it.

“And while I am able to do this well, I will continue going, I will train, I will compete.”

While she shrugged off the “legend” tag, saying that she feels “a little embarrassed” by it, Chusovitina insisted that age is irrelevant in the competition arena.

She said: “No matter how old you are, on the competition floor, we are all equal.

“This is why I am also competing with young and middle-aged athletes. When you go out into the competition, there is no such thing as age.”

After the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, the Uzbek announced that she would stop competing, but has since made a U-turn on that decision.

Despite having enjoyed a glittering career, her most memorable moment as a gymnast has nothing to do with her personal achievements.

In 2002, her son Alisher was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukaemia. To get the best possible treatment, her family moved to Germany, which she represented from 2006 to 2012.

Medical care was expensive, so Chusovitina, who is just among a handful of gymnasts to compete at the Olympics after giving birth, began taking part in international competitions to raise money.

Alisher was declared cancer-free in 2008, the year Chusovitina won her first individual Olympic medal – a vault silver – in Beijing, adding to the women’s team gold she earned while competing as part of the Unified Team in Barcelona in 1992.

She said: “When we returned home (from the 2008 Games), I was told the most joyful news that a mother can receive, that my son was completely healthy. This is why I always say that not a single Olympic medal, even a gold medal, or even two gold medals, can compare with the health of our children.”

She does not know how much longer she will be competing and is also tight-lipped about her longevity in the sport, saying that she will reveal her “secret” after she retires.

Perhaps that partly lies in knowing how to have fun. Just as she executes her moves on the mat with ease, the gymnast, who turns 48 on Monday, was also quick-witted with her responses during her interview.

In response to a joke about her turning 21 instead of 48, Chusovitina, who donned a pink tracksuit with her nails painted blue, pink, green, orange and yellow, shot back: “18.”