Oksana Chusovitina

Oksana Chusovitina
Full name	Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina
Country represented	Germany
Former country(ies) represented	Uzbekistan  Soviet Union
Born	June 19, 1975 (1975-06-19) (age 36) Bukhara, Uzbek SSR, USSR
Hometown	Köln, Germany
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International
Club	Turnteam Toyota Köln
Head coach(es)	Shanna Polyakova
Former coach(es)	Svetlana Kuznetsova
Eponymous skills	Hop-full pirouette, full out dismount (uneven bars); layout-full out (floor exercise)
Medal record Competitor for  Germany Summer Olympics Silver 2008 Beijing Vault World Championships Silver 2011 Tokyo Vault Bronze 2006 Aarhus Vault European Championships Gold 2008 Clermont-Ferrand Vault Silver 2011 Berlin Vault Bronze 2007 Amsterdam Vault Competitor for  Uzbekistan World Championships Gold 2003 Anaheim Vault Silver 2005 Melbourne Vault Silver 2001 Ghent Vault Bronze 2002 Debrecen Vault Bronze 1993 Birmingham Vault Bronze 1992 Paris Vault Asian Games Gold 2002 Busan Vault Gold 2002 Busan Floor Silver 2002 Busan All-Around Silver 2002 Busan Balance Beam Bronze 1994 Hiroshima Vault Bronze 1994 Hiroshima Uneven Bars Competitor for  Unified Team Summer Olympics Gold 1992 Barcelona Team Competitor for  Soviet Union World Championships Gold 1991 Indianapolis Team Gold 1991 Indianapolis Floor Silver 1991 Indianapolis Vault

Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina (Russian: Оксана Александровна Чусовитина; born June 19, 1975 in Bukhara, Uzbek SSR, USSR) is an Olympic medalist and World Champion gymnast who has competed for Germany since 2006. She was formerly a citizen of, and a competitor for, the Soviet Union (before 1993) and Uzbekistan (1993–2006).

To date, Chusovitina's career in elite gymnastics has spanned more than 20 years. She won the USSR Junior Nationals in 1988 and began competing at the international level in 1989, before many of her current rivals were even born. She is the only female gymnast ever to compete in five Olympic Games, and is one of only two female gymnasts to compete at the Olympics under three different national teams: the Unified Team in 1992; Uzbekistan in 1996, 2000 and 2004; and Germany in 2008. Chusovitina has also competed in 10 World Championships, three Asian Games and three Goodwill Games. In addition, Chusovitina holds the record for the most individual world championships medals on a single event (9, on the vault).

Chusovitina is also one of only a handful of women, along with Cuban Leyanet Gonzalez, Soviet legend Larisa Latynina, and Dutch Olympian Suzanne Harmes, to return to high-level gymnastics and international competition after becoming a mother. She is remarkable in her ability to remain competitive for so many years, often in the face of great adversity, and has been cited as a role model and an inspiration by many of her peers in the gymnastics community.^[1]

Soviet Union

Chusovitina began gymnastics in 1982.^[2] In 1988, at the age of 13, she won the all-around title at the USSR National Championships in the junior division.^[3]

By 1990, Chusovitina was a vital member of the Soviet team, and was sent to compete in various international meets. She was the vault gold medalist at the 1990 Goodwill Games and nearly swept the 1990 World Sports Fair in Japan, winning the all-around and every event except the uneven bars. The following year she won the floor exercise gold at the 1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and placed second on the vault. In 1992 Chusovitina competed at the Olympics with the Unified Team, shared in the team gold medal and placed seventh in the floor final. She also won her second World Championships vault medal, a bronze.^[3]

Uzbekistan 1993–2006

After the 1992 Olympics, when the former Soviet gymnasts returned to their home republics, Chusovitina began competing for Uzbekistan and training with the Uzbekistan head coach Svetlana Kuznetsova. Conditions at the national training facility in Tashkent were a far cry from the Soviet Round Lake training center, and Chusovitina was forced to practice on antiquated, and in some cases, unsafe equipment. In spite of this setback, she was able to consistently produce world-class routines.^[4][5]

Chusovitina represented Uzbekistan from 1993 to 2006 and competed for them at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics, the 1994, 1998 and 2002 Asian Games and the 1994 and 2001 Goodwill Games. During this era she was the strongest gymnast on the Uzbekistan national team, earning over 70 medals in international competitions and qualifying to the Olympics three times.^[3]

For her contributions to gymnastics, Chusovitina was granted the title of "Honored Athlete of the Republic of Uzbekistan" by the Uzbekistan Ministry of Cultural and Sports Affairs.^[6] In 2001, she was named as the first WAG representative to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG)'s Athletes' Commission.^[7] In addition, Chusovitina graduated from the Sports University in Tashkent.^[8]

In late 1997 Chusovitina married Uzbekistani Olympic wrestler Bakhodir Kurpanov. The two originally met at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima, where they were both competing.^[8] The couple's son, Alisher, was born in November 1999.^[2][5]

Move to Germany

In 2002, Alisher was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).^[9] Seeking advanced medical treatment for their son, Chusovitina and her husband accepted an offer of help from Shanna and Peter Brüggemann, head coaches of the Toyota Cologne club, and moved to Germany. ^[10] With prize money earned from gymnastics competitions, along with the help of the Brüggemanns and members of the international gymnastics community who fundraised and donated to the cause, Chusovitina was able to secure treatment for Alisher at the University of Cologne's hospital. ^{[1][5][11][12]} While Alisher underwent treatment in Cologne, Chusovitina trained with the German team.

Uzbekistan released Chusovitina to compete for Germany in 2003. However, due to rules requiring three years of residency, she was unable to gain German citizenship immediately. From 2003 to 2006 she trained in Germany but continued to compete for Uzbekistan, representing them at the 2003 and 2005 World Championships and the 2004 Olympics. In 2003, thirteen years after her World Championships debut, Chusovitina won the gold medal on the vault at that year's World Championships in Anaheim.^[9]

In 2006, Chusovitina obtained German citizenship.^[10] Her first competition for Germany was the 2006 World Championships, where she won a bronze medal on the vault and placed ninth in the all-around.^[13]

^[14]

Current status

As of 2008, Chusovitina is still active on the international competition circuit. In July 2007, she won the all-around title at the 2007 German National Championships.^[15] At her first European Championships, she placed second on the vault.^[16] At the 2007 World Championships in Stuttgart, Chusovitina helped the German squad to a 10th place finish in the preliminary round, which qualified them to send a full team to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where she was the oldest female competitor in her discipline.^[5] She qualified for the vault event final where she finished in 2nd place, thus earning the first individual Olympic medal of her career. Chusovitina competed on three events at the 2008 Women's European Championships in Clermont-Ferrand, France, helping the German team to a 7th place finish in the team finals. In the vault event final, she defeated reigning European champion Carlotta Giovannini to win the gold medal.^[17]

At the Olympics, the German team placed 12th in the qualifying round of competition. Chusovitina qualified to the individual all-around final, where she placed 9th overall.^[18] She also qualified in fourth place for the vault final.^[19] In the vault final, she won the silver medal with a score of 15.575.^[20]

Faux Retirement

Despite earlier claims that she would attempt to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, Chusovitina announced in April 2009 that she intended to participate in the 2009 World Gymnastics Championships in October, but indicated that she will not continue. The championships, she stated, are "enough." ^[21]

Oksana Chusovitina then took that statement back after she tore her Achilles in early 2009. She has competed in some competitions in 2010 (including the 2010 Houston National Invitational) and has stated she plans on competing in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games

She won the silver medal on vault at the 2011 European Championships and the 2011 World Championships.

Skills

• Floor Exercise: Chusovitina is credited as being the first woman to successfully perform a layout-full-out on floor.^[3][5] Her music for floor routines has included:
  • 1991: "William Tell Overture (Overture de Guillaume Tell)" from William Tell (opera) by Gioacchino Rossini
  • 1992: "Triumphal March" from Spartacus by Aram Khachaturyan
  • 1994: "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg

• Vault: Chusovitina is renowned as a vault specialist. She is the only top female vaulter in the world who does not perform Yurchenko style vaults. Instead, she competes only front handspring entry and Tsukahara-family vaults. She currently performs the handspring laid-out Rudi (which is named after her in the Code of Points) and a Tsukahara with a 1½ or a double twist.

• Uneven bars: Chusovitina is also credited with two bars moves in the Code of Points: a hop-full pirouette release and a full-out dismount.^[5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Pearce, Linda (November 22, 2005). "Love for her son drives Olympic medallist on". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/love-for-her-son-drives-olympic-medallist-on/2005/11/21/1132421604552.html. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "In our Spotlight: Oksana Chusovitina". International Gymnast. February 2001. Archived from the original on 2001-04-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20010417223124/http://www.intlgymnast.com/spotlight/chusovitina.html. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Biography and list of competitive results". Gymn-Forum. http://www.gymn-forum.net/bios/women/chusovitina.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-24. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ "Photo report on the Tashkent Training Center". Official Team UZB Web. Archived from the original on 2000-06-01. http://web.archive.org/web/20000601033926/http://gymnastica.com/teamuzb/pictures/uzbnats/help/help01.html. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Turner, Amanda (June 19, 2008). "Ageless Chusovitina Turns 33". International Gymnast. http://www.intlgymnast.com/Online-Features/News/399.html. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
6. ^ "Our Stars". Ministry of Cultural and Sports Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Archived from the original on 2006-09-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20060903040947/http://www.madaniyat.sport.uz/en/stars.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
7. ^ "IG Online interview: Oksana Chusovitina". International Gymnast. 2001. Archived from the original on 2001-10-06. http://web.archive.org/web/20011006171446/http://www.intlgymnast.com/interview/chusovitina_oksana.html. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
8. ^ ^{a b} "For petite gymnast, burly wrestler, it was a match made at the Games". Associated Press. October 6, 2002. http://www.uzland.info/2002/october/07/02.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
9. ^ ^{a b} "German women, Chusovitina, tune up in Utah". International Gymnast. July 31, 2003. Archived from the original on 2004-02-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20040227040717/http://www.intlgymnast.com/news/2003/july.html. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
10. ^ ^{a b} Wessel, Markus (January 31, 2007). "Kleine Frau, großes Herz". WDR.DE. Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20080411220621/http://www.wdr.de/themen/sport/sport_in_nrw_serie/interview_oksana_chusovitina.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
11. ^ "Gymnastics community rallies to help sick child". International Gymnast. October 26, 2002. Archived from the original on 2002-11-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20021121045148/http://www.intlgymnast.com/news/2002/oct.html. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
12. ^ "Oxana Chusovitina spurred on by son's illness". Reuters. October 2002. http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/archives.php?id=30206. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
13. ^ "Uzbekistan veteran Chusovitina to compete for Germany". Xinhua/People's Daily Online. October 15, 2006. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200610/15/eng20061015_311862.html. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
14. ^ GymnasticsResults.com
15. ^ "Chusovitina, Hambüchen Win German Nationals". International Gymnast. July 22, 2007. http://www.intlgymnast.com/Online-Features/reports/167.html. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
16. ^ "Chusovitina springt unglücklich an Gold vorbei". Sport.de. April 6, 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-04-12. http://web.archive.org/web/20080412032939/http://www.1asport.de/sport/Sportnachrichten/Chusovitina_springt_ungl_cklich_an_Gold_vorbei_ph_41805N.html. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
17. ^ Turner, Amanda (April 6, 2008). "Four Nations Golden as Europeans Conclude". International Gymnast. http://www.intlgymnast.com/Online-Features/reports/283.html. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
18. ^ "Results - All Around Women's Individual Final". The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. 2008-08-15. http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/GA/C73H/GAW024101.shtml#GAW024101. Retrieved 2008-08-15. 
19. ^ "Team qualifying round apparatus scores". NBC Olympics. 2008-08-10. http://www.nbcolympics.com/gymnastics/resultsandschedules/rsc=GAW499000/standings_apparatus.html. Retrieved 2008-08-13. 
20. ^ "Vault event final scores". NBC Olympics. 2008-08-17. http://www.nbcolympics.com/gymnastics/resultsandschedules/rsc=GAW002101/index.html. Retrieved 2008-08-17. 
21. ^ "http://www.focus.de/sport/mehrsport/turnen-national-chusovitina-hat-das-ende-ihrer-karriere-vor-augen_aid_394098.html". Focus Magazin. 2009-04-09. http://www.focus.de/sport/mehrsport/turnen-national-chusovitina-hat-das-ende-ihrer-karriere-vor-augen_aid_394098.html. Retrieved 2009-04-09. 

External links

• Oxana Chusovitina at Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique
• List of competitive results

Gymnastics portal

Persondata
Name	Chusovitina, Oksana
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 19, 1975
Place of birth	Bukhara, Uzbek SSR, USSR
Date of death
Place of death