On July 18, Uzbekistan's Olympic delegation confirmed that 46-year-old gymnast Chusovykina will serve as her country's flag bearer for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. It also made her Uzbekistan's first female standard-bearer to participate in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
In addition, she became the only gymnast in the world to participate in the Olympic Games for eight consecutive times, and will once again be recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Born in June 1975, Chusovkina is undoubtedly an ageless legend in the gymnastics world, and during her long career, Chusovykina represented the CIS, Germany and Uzbekistan in the Olympic Games.
Chusovkina began practicing gymnastics at the age of 7, and at the age of 17 she won the women's team gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, and then won two consecutive world championship medals in gymnastics, reaching the peak of her athletic career. After the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, 21-year-old Chusovkina retired.
However, in 2002, Chusovykina was forced to announce her comeback because her eldest son was found to have leukemia and she went back to the field to pay for high medical expenses... In order to treat her son, Chusovkina sold everything that could be sold, chusovykina said, "I think I have to go back to the field, I have to make money for Alyosha." ”
At that time, Chusovkina had passed her golden age, and each time she added a new difficulty move, it was like a torture. However, a world championship gold medal means a prize of 3,000 euros. "My son is my whole life, and as long as he's sick, I'll keep it going."
After her unremitting efforts and her son's tenacious vitality, in 2014, Chusovkina announced that her 15-year-old son had finally overcome leukemia and made a complete recovery, but she did not stop and was still active on the field.
Although it is not known whether Chusovkina's Olympic journey will end at the Tokyo Olympics, regardless of the outcome, the 46-year-old has already won the respect and admiration of everyone with her strength and willpower. Let us wish her a good result in this Games.
(Source: People's Daily, The Paper)