Gymnastics Icon Oksana Chusovitina, 48, to Miss First Olympics in Over 30 Years

Patrick Andres | May 23, 2024

Aug 5, 2012; London , United Kingdom; Oksana Chusovitina competes during the vault competition at North Greenwich Arena in the London 2012 Olympic Games. / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

This summer, the Olympics in Paris will be missing one of world sport's true ageless wonders.

Uzbek gymnast Oksana Chusovitina, 48, announced Thursday that she will miss the Asian Gymnastics Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan with an injury. Chusovitina has competed in every Olympics since 1992 in Barcelona when she was 17.

“I will not be able to take part (in the Asian Championships) and I am very upset, as I have been preparing for this competition for a long time,” Chusovitina said on Instagram. “I started doing all-around and I wanted to perform in our country, in front of our fans. But, unfortunately, tomorrow you will not see me among the participants.”

Chusovitina has two Olympic medals to her name: a team gold representing the Unified Team (a team made up of former Soviet nations) in Barcelona, and a vault silver representing Germany in Beijing in 2008.

She has represented the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan and Germany over the course of her lengthy international career, and is one of only 18 Olympians ever to compete in eight different Games.