Chusovitina preps for 7th Oly at 41

I am feeling good: Oksana

BERGISCH-GLADBACH, Germany, July 11, (AP): In the retro-looking gym that serves as the talent-honing center for Germany’s potential Olympian gymnasts, girls aged six and seven in leotards execute their somersaults and back flips under watchful trainers.

From a distance, it is difficult to distinguish Oksana Chusovitina from the kids. However, she has a son who is about three times the age of the young aspiring gymnasts.

Only when she approaches, do features on her small frame reveal differences: The muscles hardened by years of toplevel competition, and the lines around the face tell of experience.

Chusovitina will compete at her seventh Olympics when she goes to Rio de Janeiro, becoming the oldest Olympic female gymnast in history at age 41.

“I am feeling good,” she said, speaking German in an interview with The Associated Press. “On the podium, everyone is the same whether you are 40 or 16. You have to go out and do your routine and your jumps. “But it’s a pity there are no points for age,” she added, breaking into an easy smile.

Chusovitina, back representing her native Uzbekistan, is an anachronism in an age when gymnasts enter major competitions at 16, and most are teenagers. A legal limit was imposed to prevent ever

In this Aug 17, 2008 file photo, Germany’s gymnast Oksana Chusovitina poses after winning the silver medal during the women’s vault apparatus finals at the Beijing 2008

Olympics in Beijing. (AP)

younger girls coming to competitions.

Her dedication and love of the sport keep her going, she said.

“I have no pain, no problems. The toughest for me is to wait until the next training,” Chusovitina said.

As the Olympics approach, she trains two, three hours a day, or as she puts it, “not so much.”

About 1.50-meters (five-feet) tall and weighing about 43 kilograms (95