14 Oldest Women Gymnasts Still Alive

The world of gymnastics is not only a sport but also a way of life. Women in gymnastics are expected to be strong, beautiful, and determined. They have to be able to endure long hours of training and hard work to achieve their dreams of becoming Olympians. 

The athletes are expected to take care of themselves by eating healthy foods and exercising regularly. The demands placed on these women can be extremely challenging, so maintaining good health is expected of them.

Thus, in the long run, they tend to live more extended lives than an average person. Let us set the records straight and jump into the list of the oldest women in gymnastics.

14. Gina Gogean (September 9, 1977 – present)

photo source: Wikipedia

Gina Gogean was officially born in 1977, but a 2002 publication of hospital records in a Romanian newspaper indicated that she was born in 1978, excluding her from several of her earlier senior tournaments.

Gogean competed in her first international event in the Junior International in Japan in 1989, winning the floor, and her first senior-level competition came at the Goodwill Games in 1990.

She frequently competed for the Romanian national team and quickly rose to the position of team captain. Her finest performance came at the Lausanne World Championships in 1997, where she managed to win three gold medals, including her first beam victory and her third straight floor victory.

Did You Know?

After winning medals in each of her three events at the 1998 World Cup, Gina Gogean announced her retirement. She worked as a television analyst and a coach after finishing her education in Scotland and Romania.

13. Roza Galieva (April 28, 1977 – present)

photo source: Pinterest

Roza Galiyeva started representing Russia in competitions after being granted Russian citizenship in 1995. She took gold on the balance beam at the 1996 European Championships, besting world-famous athletes Gina Gogean and her former teammate Svetlana Boguinskaya, who was then representing Belarus. This was her first significant competition for Russia.

Galiyeva was selected to lead the Russian team in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta as the sole returning Olympian. But she also experienced negative effects from these Olympics.

The Russian team was dissatisfied with their performance in the team finals, as they came second behind the United States after taking the lead for most of the match.

Did You Know?

Roza Galiyeva evaluated gymnastics events in Russia after quitting the competition. She also participated in the ice skating production Moscow Circus on Ice.

12. Shannon Lee Miller (March 10, 1977 – present)

photo source: okhistory.org

Shannon Miller’s interest in tumbling began when he was five and received a trampoline for Christmas. Soon after, gymnastics instruction at a nearby facility called Adventures in Gymnastics began.

When she was nine years old, Miller began training with Steve Nunno and his assistant and choreographer Peggy Liddick at Dynamo Gymnastics in Oklahoma City.

Because of her organizing abilities, Miller managed to juggle rigorous sports training and competition with academics. To prepare for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Miller made a comeback effort. She put in ten months of intense training but pulled out of the Boston U.S. trials after hurting a knee on the first vault of the night.

Did You Know?

Miller earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing and entrepreneurship.

11. Dominique Margaux Dawes (November 20, 1976 – present)

photo source: ESPN

At age 6, Dominique Dawes enrolled in gymnastics classes. She competed in the Olympic Games in 1992, 1996, and 2000 as a member of the American women’s gymnastics team, earning a team medal each time.

By the age of 10, Dawes was engaged in junior elite competition. In the junior all-around competition, she finished 17th in her debut U.S. 1988 national championships

Dawes became the first African American to take home an individual Olympic medal in women’s gymnastics in 1996 when her team won the gold medal at the Olympics, and she took home the bronze. Following the 2000 Olympics, she decided to give up gymnastics.

Did You Know?

At age 6, Dominique Dawes began training in gymnastics with Kelli Hill as her instructor. At age 9, she took first place in an event.

10. Tatiana Gutsu (September 5, 1976 – present)

photo source: themedalcount.com

Gutsu began gymnastics at age 6 and was raised in a Ukrainian home of Romanian ancestry. In 1988, she was added to the Soviet Union’s national squad. The 1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Indianapolis was her first significant international competition.

She placed fifth in the solo all-around competition, earned silver in the uneven bars and balancing beam championships, and won the team title with the Soviet Union there.

Because her Soviet compatriot Svetlana Boginskaya won the event with a shorter routine, her silver medal performance on the beam was extremely contentious.

Did You Know?

In Farmington Hills, Michigan, Tatiana currently serves as the gymnastics academy’s owner and instructor.

9. Kimberly Lynn Zmeskal Burdette (February 6, 1976 – present)

photo source: sportsmatik

The 1991 World All-Around champion and former American artistic gymnast Kimberly Lynn Zmeskal Burdette now coaches gymnastics. In addition to becoming the first American woman ever to win an all-around medal at a world championship, she was also the first to win the all-around crown.

Zmeskal, who excelled in the early 1990s and is considered one of the finest female gymnasts of all time, is renowned for her explosive strength and tumbling on the vault and floor.

Did You Know?

Kim Zmeskal teaches gymnastics, runs Texas Dreams Gymnastics, and yearly stages Kim Zmeskal’s Texas Prime Meet.

8. Tatiana Felixvna Lysenko (June 23, 1975 – present)

photo source: themedalcount.com

Lysenko is of Ukrainian-Jewish heritage and was born in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR. Seven years after starting gymnastics, she made her official career in 1990, taking first place in the World Cup’s all-around contest.

She was chosen to compete in the next year’s global championships in Indianapolis, where she won the team competition.

In 1994, Lysenko kept participating in international competitions. At the Brisbane World Championships, she finished 18th overall. On vault, she finished fourth in the event finals. Following the World Championships, she ended her career. Lysenko relocated to the United States after quitting contests and currently resides in California.

Did You Know?

After earning her law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law, Lysenko became a member of the California State Bar in 2005.

7. Oksana Chusovitina (June 19, 1975 – present)

photo source: SportMob

Oksana Chusovitina played for three nations: Uzbekistan, the Soviet Union’s Unified Team, and Germany. After learning that her son Alisher had acute lymphocytic leukemia in 2002, Chusovitina continued competing as a top gymnast to help pay for his medical expenses.

The gymnastics community came together to support Alisher’s request for treatment in Germany because her kid could not receive it in Uzbekistan.

She started competing for Germany after obtaining German citizenship as a token of gratitude for saving her son’s life. When she played at the 2020 Games in Tokyo, she made history by becoming the only artistic gymnast to participate in eight different Olympic Games.

Did You Know?

She received the honorary title of Honored Athlete of the Republic of Uzbekistan for her gymnastics accomplishments from the Uzbekistan Ministry of Cultural and Sports Affairs.

6. Betty Okino (June 4, 1975 – present)

photo source: GymCastic

Betty Okino, born Elizabeth Anne Okino, was raised in the United States after leaving her birthplace of Entebbe, Uganda, at the age of nine, she started gymnastics.

She advanced to the elite level in 1988, just four years later, finishing 17th in the junior U.S. National competitions. Okino relocated to Houston in 1990 to train with Marta and Béla Károlyi.

In the 1990 U.S. Olympics, she won the balance beam competition and finished second in the all-around. Nationals; she also competed for the United States at several significant international competitions, such as the Goodwill Games, when the American team won a silver medal, and she placed fourth in the all-around and uneven bars finals.

Did You Know?

Betty speaks Romanian expertly. This ability was useful in the gym and at international events when she could inform her colleagues of what their instructors and Romanian gymnasts were saying about them.

5. Wendy Bruce (March 23, 1973 – present)

photo source: hero-health.org

Despite not making it to solo finals, Wendy Bruce competed in gymnastics at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and earned a bronze medal with the US team.

After winning the World Team Trials in all-around, Bruce competed in the 1989 World Championships and placed 11th overall. She also triumphed in the all-around competition at the 1992 US Classic.

She performed in exhibitions after the Olympics but came back in 1994 to make another Olympic squad; however, she ceased participating after that year, so that did not happen. She subsequently participated in professional contests and demonstrations, including the 1996 Mall Tour and gymnastics shows at SeaWorld.

Did You Know?

After getting a degree in Psychology, Wendy Bruce opened Get Psyched! Mental Coaching, a mental health facility. 

4. Mary Lou Retton (January 24, 1968 – present)

photo source: US Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame

When she was four years old, Mary Retton started learning dance, acrobatics, and gymnastics. She relocated to Houston, Texas, in 1983 to train with Bela Karolyi, who assisted Retton in creating a look that complemented her lean, athletic figure.

Retton’s unique approach redefined women’s gymnastics and contrasted the swooping, balletic motions common in floor-event execution.

Early in the 1980s, Retton enjoyed success at important domestic and international competitions, becoming the first American to win the combined-events championship at the Chunichi Cup in Japan.

Retton stopped competing and started working as a television analyst and motivational speaker. She was the first gymnast admitted to the American Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1985. Sports Hall of Fame.

Did You Know?

Mary Lou Retton departed the 1984 Los Angeles Games as a sensation after being the first American female gymnast to win the Olympic individual all-around championship title.

3. Nadia Comaneci (November 12, 1961 – present)

photo source: FISU

Nadia Comaneci, a former gymnast from Romania, won five gold medals at the Olympics, all in individual competitions.

Once she got to work, she was just as technical and inventive. She was the first gymnast to do an aerial walkover and a series of aerial cartwheel-back handspring flying maneuvers on the beam. She also made her floor debuts with the double twist dismount and the double back salto.

She continues to impact people like Simone Biles because she is ready to prioritize originality and desire over technical perfection.

Did You Know?

Nadia Comăneci received the first perfect score at an Olympic competition in her sport. She had a record-breaking performance at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, where she received seven 10.0s.

2. Olga Korbut (May 16, 1955 – present)

photo source: NBC News

Olga Korbut enrolled in a Soviet sports academy at 11 under the direction of her future coach, Renald Knysh. She took part in her first U.S.S.R. championship in 1969 and finished fifth. When she was 17, Olga made history by being the first to backflip to catch on the uneven bars. The maneuver is now referred to as the Korbut Flip in her honor.

She missed out on the competition for the majority of 1972 before the Olympics due to sickness and injuries. She enchanted the Munich spectators at the Olympics with her little beauty.

In addition to gold with the Soviet team, she won individual golds in the floor exercise and the balancing beam and individual silver in the uneven parallel bars.

She won the Russian and World Student Games in 1973, the European Championships, and a silver medal.

1. Johanna Quaas (November 20, 1925 – present)

photo source: Guinness World Records

When 86-year-old Johanna Quaas was filmed working out on the parallel bars, and the floor during the Tournament of Masters in Cottbus on March 26, 2012, YouTube user LieveDaffy released two films of the event. These recordings helped Quaas get international attention. Johanna Quaas of Germany was given the title of the oldest (women) gymnast in 2012 by Guinness World Records.

Quaas always played, climbed the high bars, and rolled on the mats. She started participating in gymnastics at a young age, around age ten, but soon after her family relocated to a different region of Germany, she had to stop competing temporarily.

She started the eleven-year-old social service job required of females in Nazi Germany during World War II, working in farming and looking after the children of another family.

Did You Know?

Johanna Quaas ceased participating in active or competitive gymnastics in 2018 after tearing a biceps tendon.