TOKYO – Age has always worked on hyper speed in women’s gymnastics, the sport that sometimes holds retirement parties and college campus visits in the same week. It’s a rarity that the average age of this U.S. team should be north of 20, with a star who is a ripened 24. But days after Simone Biles likely defends her Olympic title, earning what would be a veteran’s haul of six major all-around crowns, she may well be in the vault finals alongside a woman who won an Olympic gold medal five years before Biles was born.
On Sunday, Uzbekistan’s Oksana Chusovitina will compete at the Tokyo Olympics at age 46, or approximately 847 in equestrian years.