From running on rooftops to vaulting into eight Olympics: How Oksana Chusovitina went from wild child to legend

On the mat, Oksana Chusovitina is an image of poise, discipline and absolute perfection.

But don’t be fooled.

Before the 48-year-old Olympic, world and Asian Games champion became a legend of artistic gymnastics, her mischievous nature kept her whole family on their toes.

“I was such a restless child. There were four of us and I was the youngest. Everyone in the family loved me, and nothing was forbidden for me," Chusovitina told Olympics.com. "I did everything I wanted. And, of course, this caused a lot of problems for my family. I climbed onto roofs, I went down into basements, and kept bringing home as many as six puppies. I picked up anything that was alive from the street, I took all of them home.

“We played on the street. We played tag, and hide and seek. I had a great childhood.”

Olympics.com caught up with the eight-time Olympian to find out what trouble she got into as a child, the songs that always get her dancing in the gym, and why no food in the world can compare to her mother’s borscht recipe.

• Oksana Chusovitina's road to Paris 2024: Against all odds

Oksana Chusovitina: Earning gymnastics training with school grades

The youngest of four children, Chusovitina could get away with more than most.

Her parents, older brother and two sisters doted on her even when she wreaked havoc in the neighbourhood – or brought yet another stray animal home. To the family's credit, not one was left homeless.

“We kept some. Some our mother had to give to our friends, neighbours, everyone we knew. We gave them to everyone and I know that not a single animal was thrown away,” Chusovitina said, whose passion for furry companions remains strong to this day. The gymnast currently has four dogs and a cat.

When afterschool caretakers tactfully declined taking charge of the energetic Chusovitina after lessons, her brother took the young girl to his artistic gymnastics lessons so that she would not have to stay in the apartment alone.

Eight years old at the time, Chusovitina fell in love with the sport from that first session and while her brother soon abandoned training, she became increasingly passionate about the sport.

Her relations – none of whom were athletes – did not share that enthusiasm. To get permission to go to training, Chusovitina had to bring good grades home.

“My mother believed that sports were just for fun, that you still had to study," Chusovitina recalled. "I always studied very well so that they would let me go to training. For my mother, gymnastics training was number two or number three. The most important thing was to study.”

Chusovitina learned the consequences of neglecting her studies early on, when a bad grade in botany class drew an unforgiving boundary between her, vaults, balance beams and the uneven bars.

“I got a C in school and my mother said, 'That's it, no more sports. We’ll study instead'," Chusovitina said. "I was bawling my eyes out, I wanted to train. And then dad said, 'Are you sure you want to do gymnastics?' I said yes. 'You want this?' I said yes. And then he told me that if you decide to do this, you need to see everything through to the end. And the studies, they should come first and you should devote the same amount of time to your studies as you do to sport.

"You try hard in the gym and you should try hard in school because if you have bad grades in school, then you will never achieve good results in sport either.”

While her parents had no connection to artistic gymnastics or any other sports, Chusovitina said their advice was fundamental in making her the world-renown gymnast she ultimately became.

Aside from teaching the future Olympian the importance of studies, they also taught her discipline.

"[My dad] always told me, 'If you take on something, finish it. If you feel that you cannot complete it or you have doubt that you can do it, it’s better not to take it on'," she said. "And this has remained with me throughout my life. I live by this."

Her mother also offered valuable life lessons, as well as more practical support. A cook by profession, she would find time between her day and night shifts, to make borscht for Chusovitina's post-training meals - and that remains the gymnast's favourite dish to this day.

Oksana Chusovitina: Putting family first

In the years since savouring borscht in her family’s kitchen, Chusovitina has tried the world's best cuisines as she criss-crossed the globe for international competitions, including eight Olympic Games, and multiple Asian Games and Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.

While there were many joyous milestones in the 41 years she has spent in the sport, Chusovitina does not hesitate when asked what day she would want to re-live twice.

“This was after Beijing [2008], when we returned from the Olympics. There was a moment when we went to the hospital and we were told that our son was completely healthy," Chusovitina said, recalling the emotional years after her only child, Alisher, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2002. "We have been waiting for this for six years, so it cannot be compared with anything. Maybe that’s what makes it much easier for me to handle challenges in life."

Family always came first who Chusovitina, who moved to Germany with her husband, retired Greco-Roman wrestler Bakhodir Kurpanov, to get their son the treatment he needed. Soon turning 24, Alisher currently studies in university and works as a children’s basketball coach.

Given her commitment to family, it becomes less surprising to hear Chusovitina say that the Covid-19 pandemic turned out to be "the most wonderful time" of her life.

"I spent it with my family. I have never been home for so long in my life as an athlete, so I rested mentally and physically," she explained.

The pandemic also helped the gymnast to fulfil a long-time dream – learn how to ride a bike.

Chusovitina rode horses since she was young, but her family didn't have a bicycle so she never learned how to ride one. When the roads in Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent were closed to cars as an anti-Covid measure, but cycling was still allowed, the Olympian took it as a sign that it was time to try another sport.

"I like it very much," she said of her new cycling hobby. "But I can’t turn sharply because sometimes I fall when I turn sharply. I haven't completely learned how to do it yet."

No age limit on having fun

The prospect of falling off a bicycle in front of curious bystanders would get most people in their 40s weighing the pros and cons of learning this new skill.

But not Chusovitina, who at 48, has gone through an unparalleled journey in her sport. This included overcoming a bout of self-consciousness when she first started realising the age gap between her and fellow athletes in the gym.

When she realised she was still winning against many of them, that embarrassment changed into pride.

"Can you imagine how cool it is? I’m not even embarrassed. I’m 48 years old, I’m going out on the mat with 16-year-old kids who should have so much energy and strength, and I'm winning against them," she said. "Can you imagine the motivation this brings to continue going, knowing that you are competing on equal terms with them? Even my child is older than my competitors. For me, this is even more of a motivator, that I can still do it.

"When I train, when I perform, I do it for myself. I have all the titles possible. Everyone says, 'What else are you aiming for?' I say you don’t have to aim for anything. You have to have fun and do it with pleasure, and feel elated that you can still do it."

No tears in Chusovitina's gym

It is an attitude Chusovitina brings to the gym as well.

Her training sessions are full of music, dancing, laughs and jokes.

"I love training in a fun atmosphere. I always turn on the most cheerful music and I enjoy it," she said. "I don’t understand how you can cry during training. I always say, 'No one is forcing you to go there. You have a choice. You can turn around and leave or simply not come'.

"I get great pleasure from training and I do it with joy. It brings me great joy and that’s why I’m always cheerful during training. Yes, there are days when you are tired, but making a gloomy face won’t make your workout any more fun."

This mindset is contagious, as one of her earlier students, Asal Saparbaeva, can confirm based on her own experience. Saparbaeva was hand-picked by Chusovitina in 2007 to be on Uzbekistan's artistic gymnastics team and has competed at multiple international events before transitioned to breaking in her late 20s.

"I'm 29 years old now. Many say that this is the peak for doing sports. There are people who try to persuade me to quit, but having seen enough of Oksana Chusovitina, I believe that there are no barriers at all, only those that exist in the mind," Saparbaeva told Olympics.com.

"I am in constant contact with her and I also want to become the kind of person who, at 40, will be able to go onto the competition floor and simply perform for my own pleasure. I see how thrilled she is, and how she literally glows from what she does."

Sur le ciel de Paris: Chusovitina's playlist fine tuned to ninth Olympics

So, what music is Chusovitina playing during her training sessions?

Lately, a French wind has swept through her playlist.

"I don’t understand French, but the French songs, they are so light," she said. "I really like how French sounds. And when a song is beautiful too, then it is perfection."

Could Chusovitina be getting in the zone for the next Olympics, to be hosted in the French capital? She hopes that is the case.

While the Uzbek legend finished fourth in her signature vault at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on Thursday (28 September), she later said that she will use the experience to correct mistakes and try to qualify for her ninth Olympic Games.

Whatever the outcome of her latest mission, Chusovitina is not looking to stop anytime soon.

"There is no pressure on me [to retire]. There was a period when people said - it was just after Tokyo [2020] - 'it's time', and for the first time I caved under the opinions of others," Chusovitina said. "But then, I sat alone with myself, thought and felt inside that this was not my decision. I want to train more. And I thought, 'Why should I leave? Why shouldn’t I do what I like, what brings me happiness?' After that I decided that I would continue as long as I liked it.

"I can leave at any time. You must do what you can today so you don’t regret it tomorrow."