Doe maar eens wat respectvoller over Oksana Chusovitina, stelletje pubers
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Preparing for her fifth Olympic Games, Oksana Chusovitina marked her 33rd birthday Thursday.
"I feel perfectly, like I'm still 18 years old!" she told IG this week.
A German citizen since 2006, Chusovitina defines "veteran" like no other gymnast today. Many of her competitors were not yet born when she won her first world championships gold medal in 1991.
Today a mother to a 9-year-old son, Chusovitina presses on with impressive results. In 2008 she won the vault title at the European Championships, and the all-around title at the German national championships.
"I continue training because I really love gymnastics and I still have a zeal for it," she said.
Following a team gold medal with the Unified team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Chusovitina began competing for her native Uzbekistan. From 1993 to 2005 she won five medals on vault for her native country, and finished 10th in the all-around at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
She married Uzbek wrestler Bakhodir Kurpanov in 1997. She missed the 1997 and 1999 Worlds after suffering a torn Achilles, and becoming a mother to Alisher.
In the fall of 2002, Alisher was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. Facing a lack of medical resources in Uzbekistan, she brought Alisher to Germany to seek treatment at the University of Cologne. Fundraisers and donations from gymnastics fans helped the family pay for the treatment.
She accepted an offer to compete for the Germany team in 2003, but had to wait an additional three years for citizenship. Chusovitina, who now trains with Shanna Polyakova in Cologne, said Alisher is healthy and happy today.
"Alisher is doing well," she said. "He is in second grade, and he does gymnastics too — he really loves it!"