At the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, I saw Chusovitina, a gymnast from Uzbekistan. She is 46 years old. This is her eighth time participating in the Olympics.

"If you are not healed, I dare not grow old." I wonder if you have heard of this sentence.

This is not a famous quote from a celebrity, but a solemn promise made by a mother who is a professional gymnast to her son who has leukemia.

You should also have an impression of her in the gymnastics competitions of the previous Olympic Games: 1.53 meters tall, lean, with a determined look, she is almost the "oldest" athlete in the gymnastics competitions.

She is the Uzbek gymnast, Chusovitina:

This is her at the Beijing Olympics: run-up, jump spin, landing, all done in the blink of an eye Difficult moves

That time, she represented Germany and won a silver medal in the vault. It is also Germany's first gymnastics silver medal in 62 years.

The Tokyo Olympics in a few days will be her eighth Olympic journey. The people competing with her were all 16-year-olds, and she was 46 years old.

Why would an Uzbek compete for the German team in the Olympics?

Why is she still active in the Olympic Games at such an advanced age?

Chusovitina participated in the Olympic Games for the first time in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She was competing on behalf of the Commonwealth of Independent States at the time.

Like a soaring eagle.

He is new to the industry and attracts much attention.

At that Olympics, she won the gold medal in the women's gymnastics team competition and the silver medal in the vault.

The second time she participated in the Olympics was in Atlanta in 1996. She finished tenth in the all-around.

As a young athlete, she already has her own light. Generally, the career of a gymnast ends at the age of 20. At the age of 21, she also plans to retire.

At the age of 22, she entered the marriage hall and married the Uzbek wrestler Bakder Kpano.

Since then, *** has gone through ups and downs for twenty years.

After marriage, she gave birth to their lovely son Arish.

But even after retiring, gymnastics is still her unforgettable love.

Once when she passed the training hall, she looked at the familiar training facilities, the smiling faces of her familiar friends, and then looked at herself in the mirror. She felt that she was not very old yet and could still earn honor for her motherland. .

After careful consideration and her husband’s support, she made a comeback at the age of 26.

After her comeback, her performance is still amazing and she is a more mature athlete.

2002 was the most glorious year of her career.

Not only won the bronze medal in the vault at the Debrecen World Gymnastics Championships, but also won 4 medals at the Busan Asian Games, including two gold medals.

But she later learned that these honors might be the beginning of the burden of fate gradually leaning on her.

Just when she excitedly called her mother in her hometown to tell her about winning four medals, her mother responded with a warning: Your son Arish seems to be seriously ill...

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Later, he was diagnosed with leukemia. If he did not receive chemotherapy within a month, he would definitely die.

Her vision went dark and she almost lost consciousness.

From the peak of life to the bottom, a phone call, in an instant.

The next day, she and her husband immediately took a flight from South Korea back to Uzbekistan. They sold their house and car to raise money for their child's medical expenses, but it was still not enough.

What is even more worrying is that in the hospital in Uzbekistan, they saw several people using a respirator.

But his son’s illness cannot be delayed for a moment.

Someone told her that a hospital in Cologne, Germany, could treat your son's leukemia. The cost is 120,000 euros.

As long as there is a straw, you must grasp it.

The house, car, and all the belongings were sold, but it was still not enough for the 120,000 euros.

But she can still "make money" by doing gymnastics, which she once brought glory to the country.

Still in 2002, she participated in the World Championships in Hungary. In her eyes, the gold medal in the World Championships was no longer an honor, but life-saving money.

In Hungary, she fought tooth and nail on the field, while her son was lying in a hospital in Uzbekistan, waiting for her life-saving money.

A club in Germany, after seeing her amazing performance in the Busan Asian Games, promised to provide her son with the opportunity to receive treatment in the hospital.

She said in a speech:

In order for her children to receive better treatment, she participated in all competitions she could.

She doesn’t dare to get injured, get sick, or stop training because she wants to participate in competitions and earn bonuses.

Even if she falls, she has to get up again because she has to participate in the next competition. Because:

In order to thank Germany for helping her and so that her son could get better treatment, she changed her nationality. She represented the German team in 2006 and won Germany's first gymnastics silver medal in 62 years at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Some people slandered her:

But she knew what was most important to her at that time:

Her husband took care of the children at home and in the hospital full-time.

She participated in all competitions available and was not picky.

She also expanded her field. Originally she was only good at vaulting, but later developed into an all-rounder.

She said: "As long as there is a glimmer of hope and opportunity, I will return to the competition and continue to compete."

If you are not healed, I dare not grow old.

Perhaps God cannot bear to see her working so hard anymore.

After treatment, her son's condition began to improve after she participated in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

She became the happiest mother in the world.

God always despises a person's complete happiness.

When she participated in the competition in Switzerland in November of that year, she ruptured her Achilles tendon. People thought she would not come back:

But unexpectedly, in just one year, she came back. .

What she was thinking at the time was: "I can no longer compete in competitions and bring glory to the motherland."

But those athletes with disabilities and strong determination in the Paralympics inspired She, let her think, she has hands and feet, her situation is much better than theirs, they can do it, why can't she?

After all the training, she still loves gymnastics and said:

"I can finally regard competition as a kind of enjoyment."

This time, it is not for her. Not for herself, but for herself, for gymnastics itself.

Some netizens said: "Compared to a great mother, she is a great athlete."

Her relationship with gymnastics began when she was 7 years old.

In fact, she went with her brother. However, half a year later, his brother gave up gymnastics, but her talent was fully displayed.

At that time, Uzbekistan was still under the system of the former Soviet Union.

At the age of 13, she became the all-around champion of the Soviet Youth Championship and was selected to join the national team.

At that time, the competition for her was for the honor of the country. She was very afraid of making mistakes and making mistakes that would drag down the collective.

Until 1991, she represented the former Soviet Union at the World Championships in the United States and won the women's team and floor exercise world championships.

This is also her first individual world championship.

Standing on the podium, watching the national flag rising and playing, a thought came to her mind:

This is the career I will pursue.

Some memories of her old fans:

Although she was nervous, she was able to withstand the expectant gaze of the entire country behind her.

The "country" she represents is different every time.

In 1992, she competed in the Olympics for the first time, when the Soviet Union had collapsed. She represents the CIS.

In 1996, in his second Olympic Games, he represented Uzbekistan in the Atlanta Olympics and won the individual decathlon.

7 Olympic Games, 10 World Championships, 9 gold medals, 14 silver medals, 9 bronze medals, there are also three movements named after her in the International Gymnastics Federation...

Her career can be divided into three stages, for the country, for the children, and now, she wants to do it for herself.

She changed her nationality back to Uzbekistan in 2014.

Represented his motherland in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Germany supports her change of nationality and allows her to continue to retain German nationality and be able to live in Germany.

She said: "Now I practice gymnastics for myself. For me, gymnastics is like a job, and I am like a fish in water."

In order to fight against the child's illness, she did not dare to stop for a moment. Now that the disease has been beaten away, he has not stopped.

She has experienced the ups and downs of life, and gymnastics has always been with her. When she was young, gymnastics was the moon in the sky, and she yearned for it vaguely. Later, gymnastics became her life-saving straw, enough for her to hold on to it with one hand and pull her son with the other to resist the rapids. Now, gymnastics is a small boat carrying her, ferrying her leisurely across the sea of ??life.

Not everyone can achieve the power that can turn the moon in the sky into a rafting boat under their feet.

Soon, she will be Uzbekistan's flag-bearer in her eighth Olympics.

According to herself, this will be her last time participating in the Olympics because her son does not want her to work too hard.

Although this Olympics may be the last time I see her, her sportsmanship will never retire.

Let us bless her.