Chusovitina’s qualification for the Rio Games extended a staggering career that has seen her represent three different countries over a quarter of a century in a sport dominated by teen prodigies.
Chusovitina, whose son is as old as many of her rivals for Rio medals, said she does not deprive herself to maintain her muscular 1.50 meter (5 feet) tall, 43 kilogram (95 pound) frame.
“I just train and perform because doing so brings me pleasure.” Chusovitina told AFP during a break in recent training at the vast Gymnastics Palace in Tashkent.
Chusovitina started her career competing for the Soviet Union. After it collapsed, she went to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona for the Confederation of Independent States, a unified team of former Soviet states.
There she scooped gold in the gymnastics team event but she had to wait another 16 years for an individual Olympic medal.
That came when she won silver on the vault in Beijing in 2008. By then Chusovitina was representing Germany, a country she moved to in 2002 to get her son Alisher, born in 1999, successfully treated for leukaemia.
Now she is back representing her Central Asian homeland of Uzbekistan — a nation of 30 million people where she is so revered she has figured on postage stamps.
“It is too early to make any sort of predictions,” Chusovitina added when asked about her medal hopes.
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