When Svetlana Khorkina first made the national team, her new teammates asked how many Olympic Games she would like to compete at. “Seven!”, she blurted, not quite knowing how often the Games happen. The teammates made fun of her – what gymnast goes to seven Olympic Games?! A career of an elite gymnast, especially for women, rarely lasts more than two Olympic cycles. Among the laughing teammates was Oksana Chusovitina, the only gymnast who went on to compete at seven Olympic Games and is now preparing for the eighth.
Chusovitina talked to Meduza about her journey and what still motivates her to continue competing.
Q: You’ve been in this sport for so many years and you keep winning medals. How do you explain this? Some special natural talent that no one else has?
A: You know, many ask that. I don’t know, I just like doing gymnastics – going to the gym, learning new elements, trying something. When you enjoy it, everything works out. I put my heart in everything. I’ve always said that the moment I see that I’m not enjoying the sport anymore, I’ll definitely turn around and leave the gym, I’ll do other things.
Q: Did you expect that you’d stay in the sport for so long?
A: Of course not! Many don’t believe it but when I just started doing gymnastics, I wasn’t even dreaming about becoming a World champion, let alone the Olympics. I was just coming to the gym and doing what I wanted to do.
Again, it’s all about enjoyment. I like performing in front of a crowd when people applaud me and I show what I can do. Even when I have an unsuccessful competition and some people start saying it’s time for me to retire, I still see that most people support me. I’m grateful to them. Their support is what makes me continue – I train and I move forward.
Q: Talking about criticism, what do young gymnasts and their coaches think about you – that you in some sense take the places of younger athletes?
A: You know, I can say that those who I know well, who I’m friends with, support me a lot and cheer for me, they’re happy when I compete well. I really like it. During my career, I’ve realized that there are more positive people overall. Sometimes, you also need negative comments and opinions because this motivates you to show that you’re better. Any opinion helps you move forward.
Q: Is that because you changed your views on competition during your almost 30 years in the sport?
A: I’m not competing with anyone else now, I’ve been only competing with myself for a long time. I go out and do what I trained, I try to show my best. Sometimes it doesn’t happen and people come up to me and say it’s a pity. But I always reply: “No worries, if everything went perfect now, I’d have nothing else to work on.” I always find positive sides in something negative. When we go out on the competition floor, we’re all equal. Whether you’re 18 or 40, we are all judged the same. I compete in such a way that it doesn’t look like it’s time for me to retire.
Q: Did you have a different attitude when you were younger?
A: Absolutely. Back then I would get upset more often but it went away with age and experience. Now I understand that it’s a sport and things happen but when we’re younger, we see failures very differently.
Q: What were the most significant changes in the rules of the Olympics during your career?
A: The rules change every four years and I got used to getting used to them. I’ve always said that any gymnast needs to be able to compete in the all-around and it’s been proven at many Games. All-arounders have better chances of qualifying to the Olympics.
Q: You competed for three different countries – USSR, Uzbekistan, and Germany. Could you have predicted that you’d become a part of the German team?
A: I was a part of the German team but I’ve always thought that Uzbekistan is my home country. I’m grateful to Germany for helping to save my son. I still have a great relationship with the federation and the head coach. As soon as Alisher got well, I came back home and they understood.
Q: How old was Alisher when he was diagnosed with leukemia?
A: Alisher was almost three years old. We didn’t know why it happened, why he got cancer. Many write that I kept training just to earn money for the treatment. But the main reason was different then – I felt that if I spent whole days at the hospital, I’d go crazy. It was mentally hard to go through it, to see sick children. Children die of illnesses in Germany, too, unfortunately. At the gym, I got at least a bit distracted, the sport was saving me.
Q: How did it all happened – your life and work in Germany, competing for the German team?
A: At the time, I competed for a club in Cologne. A week after the diagnosis, the competition started. I didn’t want to go but then my husband and I sat down to discuss what to do. We decided that I needed to go to Germany and try to learn about the treatment. We couldn’t even imagine that we’d have such a chance. The club helped us to find a place at a hospital. When we were told the price of the treatment [120,000 euros], I was taken aback. We never had such kind of money. The sponsor of the team, Toyota, guaranteed that if we didn’t find money, they’d pay for us. And he was hospitalized immediately. We flew to Germany through Moscow. Uzbekistan’s Consulate in Moscow helped us to get urgent visas for my husband and son. We remember everything and never stop thanking the people who helped us.
Q: How long did you live in Germany?
A: The chemotherapy lasted a year, then the recovery took about two and a half years, until all the tests became normal. We kept running tests for another five years in order to make sure there was no recurrence.
Q: You learned that Alisher was cancer-free the next day after the 2008 Olympics where you won an Olympic medal.
A: Yes, that was the happiest day of my life. I can say that no Olympic medal, even five golds, is worth as much as the health of your child.
Q: How did you manage to compete during such an emotionally difficult time?
A: During the Olympics, I kept talking to Alisher on the phone and knew that he was feeling well, so I was calm. The first two years were much worse. Sometimes, I would withdraw from competitions and say to my coach that I couldn’t compete because my mind wasn’t there – Alisher had bad test results. People understood.
Q: Is Alisher also an athlete?
A: He really likes basketball, he coaches little kids. Right now, he’s finishing college in Germany. He likes Germany, he’s an adult already, 20 years old, so he chooses where and how to live. We don’t tell him “you have to live there and do that”. He wants to become a Math and Physical Education teacher.
Q: It’s an unusual story for a female athlete – to manage to combine both family life and the sport. How did you manage to do that?
A: When Alisher was born, I didn’t think I’d come back, I had no such thought, I accepted it was the end. Sometime after the birth, I came to the gym to get fitter, to get back in shape: after all, my husband and I got used to me having a flat stomach and firm muscles. First, I trained once a week, then two times a week. Then I realized I was doing elements on the apparatuses. That’s how I came back without noticing it.
Q: Besides your main job, you also do a lot for the community. Tell me about it.
A: Right now, I don’t have much time for this work but as soon as I’ll have free time, I’ll work on developing children sports. We opened a gym for kids in Tashkent. I want as many kids as possible to be able to do sports.
Q: When did you open it?
A: Just recently. We’re expanding it, trying to attract more kids. We train them not just for elite sports. Also, in our country, rhythmic gymnastics has always been more popular, kids like it more because it’s more often shown on TV and there was a rhythmic craze here during the World Cup. I’d like kids to know what is artistic gymnastics and other sports. The more kids do sports, the healthier the new generation is. My husband helps a lot with the gym. In addition, our president approved sports development initiatives by famous athletes in Uzbekistan.
Q: Since you started your career back in the USSR and adopted a lot from the Soviet school of gymnastics, do you follow the same strict methods when you work with kids?
A: It was much harder in the USSR, after all. There were 15 republics and each had good athletes. There were 20 of us on the national team but only six made the competition team. The competition was hard. That’s why we placed first far ahead of the rest of the teams at international competitions – how the Americans do today. Now, they have thousands of kids doing gymnastics and out of a hundred, there will always be two great gymnasts. The school I went through in the seven-eight years [in the USSR] helps me until now. I learned a lot, I got a great foundation. When I was the national team coach, I based my work on the Soviet methods but we had only two practices a day and not three.
Q: Did you work with strict coaches who would weigh you and scold you for gaining weight?
A: We were weighed but I had no problems with my weight. Some did but I think it’s an issue of willpower – to eat only a little piece and not half the cake. You can eat anything but a little of it. And those who ate too much would face pain in their backs or ankles. Many good gymnasts couldn’t get onto the national team because of injuries. I’ve never weighed my gymnasts, I told them that if they’re comfortable training at a certain weight, then everything’s fine. We agreed that they would listen to their bodies and only lose weight if it’s more comfortable for them. After all, extra weight means injuries that can take you out of competition for half a year. There will always be soda but you won’t do gymnastics until old age. My gymnasts were in charge of their own weight. You can always do some more conditioning or go on a run.
Q: Was the sport kind of a social elevator for you?
A: Yes, I remember how, when I was 10-11 years old, my mom would borrow money for me to go to competitions. My mom was a cook, my dad was a construction worker, there were four kids. So, I want to help kids like me. If we see that a family can’t pay for classes, we always allow the kid to attend them for free. Who knows, maybe this kid will become a champion.
Q: You’ve mentioned the President of Uzbekistan. Have you talked to him about developing the sport?
A: No, there are decrees, approvals, and when there’s such an approval, the ministry starts helping. It’s nice that they give us an opportunity to develop the sport the way we see right.
Q: Do you work with charities?
A: I can’t attend every charity event, unfortunately. But, by the way, today I’m going to a benefit for children with cancer. When I see that someone needs help, when people are raising funds for a treatment, I always try to give as much as I can. I’ve been through this and I know how hard it is.
Q: Going back to sports, what did you think about the doping scandal after which Russia couldn’t compete under the national flag in Pyeongchang in 2018?
A: It’s a hard question. We don’t know everything that happened there. I’m not going to judge and say something about it. One thing really upset me – the ban of the Paralympic athletes. This was a blow. Those people have been through so much, did and endured so much in their life, and to do something like this to them… I was very upset.
Q: Do you think the attitudes towards Russian athletes have changed after the scandal?
A: In gymnastics – no. We’ve always been friends with the girls from Russia, so, on the personal level, nothing changed. They’ve always been “ours” and will stay so, after all, there was the Soviet Union. We’ve always loved and respected them and considered them strong competitors. We are close friends, we write and call each other. So, I don’t think it has changed.
Q: By the way, have you ever gotten offers to compete for Russia?
A: No, never.
Q: You talked about how you’re being treated in Uzbekistan now. And how did people treat you in the 1990s? It wasn’t for no reason that the number of ethnic Russians in the country went down four times, they were being pushed out.
A: Perhaps, it concerned other people, but I don’t see that Russians are being pushed out. I think our country is the friendliest. I’ve always been treated like I belong. I have friends among Muslims, Uzbeks, Koreans – no one ever complained. If you work and you’re busy, you’ll feel fine in any country. But if you’re lazy, then, of course, you’re complaining about everything around you.
Q: You brought an Olympic medal to the Unified team in 1992 and to the German team in 2008. Is it right that your main goal now is to win a medal for Uzbekistan?
A: It’s my dream! It’s the only dream I have left. Uzbekistan is my motherland. Motherland that did a lot for me, everything I have is here: I’ve lived my life here, my childhood, my husband’s here, my friends, my child was born here. I really want it to happen – to make people who support me happy. I have so many fans in Uzbekistan that like my performances and wish me the best.
Q: In Russia, many athletes talk about patriotism as well – they are often wearing a suit and a pin of a Parliament member. Were you ever invited to work in politics?
A: Politics isn’t for me. A person needs to do what they are good at. I don’t want to look like a fool at a field I don’t understand. I can work in sports, develop youth and children’s sports, and help our national team, but I’ve never though about going into politics. There were offers to work at the Supreme Assembly, I said thanks and declined right away. After all, you need a special education for this, same as an actor needs to learn how to act and a singer – how to sing. Every work requires training. I want to do what I’ve been training for my whole life.
Q: Eventually you’ll have to retire, though. It will probably be hard.
A: No, it won’t be. I don’t spend as much time at the gym as I used to. I train for three hours in the morning while I used to spend eight hours a day there. I spend the rest of the day at my club, the kids there, with my family. I have a lot of things I can do besides competing. Competing is my hobby now. I’ve felt for a long time that if I get tired or start losing, I can retire with a light heart.
Q: When’s the right time to retire and how to do it on a high note?
A: On a high note – that would be with a medal, of course. It’s a sport and I can’t make predictions but I’ll do everything I can in order to achieve my dream.
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