Eight-time Olympian, 48-year-old Oksana Chusovitina withdraws from Asian Championships with injury, will miss Paris 2024
Legendary gymnast Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan's road to the Olympic Games Paris 2024 has ended.
The 48-year-old announced on Thursday (23 May) that she had sustained an injury during podium training for the Asian Gymnastics Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, that will keep her out of the competition.
Chusovitina needed to compete and finish as the highest eligible athlete in the all-around standings* in order to earn a quota to what would have been her ninth Olympic appearance.
"My dear friends, fans and everyone who loves Gymnastics! Unfortunately, I have some sad news for you," Chusovitina wrote on Instagram. "Yesterday, while training on the podium of the Asian Championships, which is taking place in Tashkent and is a qualifying event for the Olympic Games in Paris, I was injured during the floor exercise. I will not be able to take part and I am very upset as I have been preparing for this competition for a long time.
"I started doing all-around and I wanted to perform in our country, in front of our fans," she continued. "But, unfortunately, tomorrow you will not see me among the participants. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you, but you can come and support our girls. That's what I'm going to do tomorrow!"
The Olympic gold medallist knew the difficult task she faced in obtaining a quota for the Olympics, but never backed down.
“The main thing is not to give up,” Chusovitina said in an Instagram post featuring a montage of her preparation ahead of the event.
Winner of two Olympic medals, Chusovitina has participated in every Olympic Games dating back to 1992 when Barcelona took centre stage as host.
At those Games, she won a team gold medal as a member of the Unified Team. She later collected her second Olympic medal of her career at Beijing 2008, a silver on the vault.
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*As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
The gymnastics legend had previously said that she would retire following the Olympic Games in Tokyo, but two months later announced that she had resumed training with the goal of winning a medal for Uzbekistan at the Asian Games.
"I want to tell everyone that I have decided to prepare for the Asian Games 2022," she said in an Instagram story announcing her return. "I just can't finish my career without a medal for Uzbekistan."
That competition was postponed to 2023, and Chusovitina came up short of a medal, finishing just off the podium in fourth in the vault final.
Chusovtina has not revealed her plans beyond this season.