5 oldest Olympics gymnasts of all time ft. Oksana Chusovitina & Marian Dragulescu

Gymnastics has been a part of every edition Summer Olympics since the beginning of the modern Olympic edition in Athens in 1896.

Over the years, some of the sport's greatest exponents have embraced the coveted event and have won medals. These include Nadia Comaneci and Simone Biles and Larisa Latynina, who is the most successful gymnast in Olympics history.

There have also been several gymnasts over the years who have competed at the prestigious competition despite being in their late 30s or even 40s. On that note, let's take a look at the five most oldestn gymnasts in Olympics history.

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#5. Viktor Chukarin (Age - 34 years and 301 days)

Viktor Chukarin was 34 years and 301 days old when he won the all-around event at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. He thus became the oldest Olympic champion in gymnasts.

Chukarin represented the Soviet Union in two editions of the Summer Olympics in 1952 and 1956, winning a total of 11 medals, 7 golds, 3 silvers and a bronze. He won four golds and a silver at the 1952 games in Helsinki while clinching three golds, a silver and a bronze in Melbourne.

Chukarin passed away in 1984 when he was 62 years old.

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#4. Yordan Yovchev (Age - 39 years)

Bulgaria's Yordan Yovchev competed in six editions of the Olympic Games from 1992-2012, winning four medals.

Yovchev won bronze in the silver and floor exercise events in the 2000 edition in Sydney while clinching the silver in rings and the bronze in floor exercise in Athens in 2004.

The Bulgarian was over 39 years old when he competed at the 2012 London Olympics. He competed in the rings event and finished seventh.

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#3. Marian Drăgulescu (Age - 40 years)

At the age of 40, Marian Drăgulescu became the second oldest male gymnast to compete in the Games, behind Masao Takemoto, when he participated for Romania at the Tokyo 2020. There, he only competed in the vault where he finished 16th in the qualifications with an overall 13.999 points.

He made a total of 5 appearances, clinching three medals (one silver, 2 bronze) in the Athens Olympics 2004.

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#2. Masao Takemoto (Age - 40 years)

Masao Takemoto is the oldest male gymnast to feature in the Olympic Games. with his final appearance in the Rome Games in 1960.

The 1960 edition was a special event for the Japanese as he won his first gold in the team event, and concluded his journey at the prestigious Games with a silver in horizontal bar. He collected one gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze (total 7 medals) at the Games.

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#1. Oksana Chusovitina (Age - 46 years)

At the age of 46, Oksana Chusovitina became the oldest gymnast to compete in the history of the Olympic Games, representing Uzbekistan at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. She has competed in a total of 8 Summer Games, participating in every edition of the prestigious Games between 1992 and 2020.

Her long-standing career has seen her collect gold for Unified Time in the team event in 1992 Barcelona and silver in the vault in the 2008 Beijing Games for Germany. She is aiming for her ninth participation in Olympic Games in Paris 2024, with only one chance left to qualify for the Games in Asian Gymnastics Championships in Uzbekistan between May 14 and May 16.