more than a quarter century.
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 seven 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, 2004, and 2016;
and Germany in 2008 and 2012.
Chusovitina has also competed in :
10 World Championships,
three Asian Games
and three Goodwill Games.
Chusovitina holds the record for the most individual world championships medals on a single event (nine, on the vault).
Chusovitina is one of a few women, along with Cuban Leyanet Gonzalez, Soviet Larisa Latynina, and Dutch Suzanne Harmes, to return to international competition after becoming a mother.
Australia's women's head coach, Peggy Liddick, said- Chusovitina is a role model and an inspiration.