Olympics-Gymnastics-At 46, Chusovitina bids farewell, again, after eighth Games

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Gymnastics - Artistic - Women's Vault - Qualification - Ariake Gymnastics Centre, Tokyo, Japan - July 25, 2021. Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan waves after performing on the vault. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson

TOKYO (Reuters) - Five years before Simone Biles was born, Oksana Chusovitina was already an Olympic gold medallist in a sport whose brightest stars often fade early, their bodies battered by years of gruelling training.

At 46, the Uzbek gymnast has defied all odds to compete at her eighth Olympic Games in Tokyo but following the opening day of the women's competition, she bid a tearful farewell after failing to make the cut for the vault final.