Oksana Chusovitina misses out on all-around berth to World Championships
The eight-time Olympian had already secured a spot at the global event on vault only, as her opportunities for Paris 2024 qualification narrow.
Artistic Gymnastics
Eight-time Olympic gymnast Oksana Chusovitina will not compete on all four events at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, set for September in Antwerp, Belgium.
The soon-to-be 48-year-old (her birthday is on Monday, 19 June) narrowly missed qualifying for the all-around event by two positions on Friday (16 June) at the Asian Gymnastics Championships in Singapore. Her all-around total was 46.699, some eight tenths of a point behind the final qualifer, Emma Yap of Singapore, who scored 47.499. Chusovitina suffered a costly stumble on her vault, which could have closed up the gap between her and Yap.
Chusovitina, who owns two Olympic medals (Team gold from Barcelona 1992 and vault silver from Beijing 2008), had already locked up a spot at the global event via the World Cup series. However, that spot only allows her to compete on vault.
She still has several chances to earn a ticket to a historic ninth Olympic Games at Paris 2024. In Antwerp, there will be a vault qualification spot on offer. In 2024, the Apparatus World Cup series will offer two spots per event, and the highest placed eligible all-around finisher at Asian Championships will also advance to the Games.
The eight women who earned all-around spots for the Worlds in Singapore are: Rifda Irfanaluthfi of India; Aleah Finnegan of the Philippines; Milka Gehani Elpitiya Badalge Dona of Sri Lanka; Dildora Aripova of Uzbekistan; Aida Bauyrzhanova of Kazakhstan; Nadine Joy Nathan of Singapore; Kylee Ann Kvamme of the Philippines; and Yap.