In a earlier article the place I did an information visualization of Oksana Chusovitina’s profession, one of many feedback I noticed in response that I discovered significantly fascinating was an individual asking if Oksana is the final athlete from the Soviet Union who remains to be competing. The reply is surprisingly “no.” There was an athlete by the title of Nino Salukvadze on the 2020 Olympics who was a member of the Soviet delegation all the best way again in 1988.
However the motive I needed to make this text is to speak about how this query goes a lot additional than merely Nino Salukvadze and Oksana Chusovitina. The Soviet Union despatched 582 athletes to the Summer time and Winter Olympics in 1988, after which promptly broke aside into 15 totally different nations. This created a scenario the place Oksana Chusovitina was under no circumstances the one athlete who was capable of lengthen her profession in a manner that hadn’t beforehand been attainable.
There are ten “true” examples of an Olympian who represented both the USSR and/or the 1992 Unified Staff competing deep into the 2000s. However I’d personally bump that quantity to 16 as a result of there are six extra athletes who I really feel must be handled as “de facto Soviets.” Three of them represented one of many Baltic nations on the 1992 Olympics. These have been the nations that have been as soon as a part of the Soviet Union, however didn’t contribute athletes to the Unified Staff of ex-Soviet nations on the 1992 Olympics. By 1992 they have been already competing as their very own unbiased nations.
The opposite three “unofficial Soviets” are those that have roughly the identical start yr as Oksana Chusovitina, however didn’t qualify to the Olympics in 1992. As an alternative, they made their Olympic debut in both 1994 or 1996. They have been nonetheless byproducts of the Soviet system and got here of age at across the identical time as Chusovitina did. Which is why I really feel it’s unfair to deal with them as athletes who aren’t immediately similar to Chusovitina.
Beneath is a visualization the place I put the careers of those 16 athletes on a timeline.
The primary main takeaway is simply how sturdy of a presence these athletes had within the 2000s. All 16 of them competed at both the 2006 or 2008 Olympics. Whereas Gabby Douglas and Viktoria Komova have been dueling in London, there have been 14 Olympians from that 2010/2012 quad who had a hyperlink to the outdated Soviet program.
The second main takeaway is that Oksana Chusovitina seems to have survived the “cliff” that knocked out a lot of the ex-Soviet athletes. Whereas 14 of 16 athletes from the 2006/2008 cycle superior to the next Olympic quad, within the Olympic quad after {that a} staggering 50% of them witnessed the top of there careers. After which that figured was halved once more for the 2018/2020 cycle. In simply two Olympic quads, 79% of those athletes have been ushered into retirement.
In hindsight, the final two Olympic quads have been in all probability exponentially tougher for Chusovitina than any of her earlier accomplishments. It was a lot greater than Chusovitina including two extra Olympic appearances to her complete, however Oksana but once more breaking into uncharted territory.
Trying on the graphic one other fascinating perception is the profession of Afanasijs Kuzmins which spans from 1976-2012. It’s incomprehensible to suppose that somebody who was competing as an athlete might have theoretically watched Olga Korbut on beam and McKayla Maroney on vault whereas strolling across the Olympic campus. I’m going to profile a couple of of those athletes simply to present extra context relating to their careers as a few of them are fairly fascinating.
Nino Salukvadze: This Georgian athlete is the rationale Oksana Chusovitina can’t declare to be the oldest Soviet nonetheless competing, or the lively ex-Soviet with essentially the most Olympic appearances. In contrast to Chusovitina who represented the Unified Staff on the 1992 Olympics, Salukvadze immediately represented the Soviet Union all the best way again in 1988.
However essentially the most fascinating second of her profession is that in 2016 she really competed in the identical Olympics as her son, making them the primary, if not the one mother-son duo to compete on the identical Olympics. Her son, Tsotne Machavariani didn’t seem within the 2021 Olympics making Nino the absurd instance of a mother or father who has appeared within the Olympics extra just lately than her personal youngster.
Nino Salukvadze is the primary lady to seem in 9 Olympic Video games and the athlete who has successfully blocked Chusovitina from reaching that file outright if Oksana efficiently qualifies to Paris-2024.
Albert Demchenko: He is without doubt one of the athletes who maybe might have matched Chusovitina’s mark by being an ex-Soviet athlete who made it to the 2018/2020 cycle. Albert Demchenko’s profession is exclusive in that he almost broke the file for essentially the most appearances within the Winter Olympics.
So how come he by no means matched Chusovitina’s mark nor grew to become the Winter Olympian with essentially the most Olympic appearances? Albert Demchenko was one of the crucial excessive profile figures of the 2014 Russian Olympic doping scandal. At one level he was slated to be banned for all times together with his medals stripped till the choice was overturned by the Courtroom of Arbitration for Sport. Whereas Demchenko efficiently defended his 2014 outcomes, the case appeared to have performed a consider his not pursing an look for the 2018 Olympics.
On the 2018 Olympics a Japanese athlete would break the file for many appearances by a Winter Olympian as an alternative. Albert Demchenko’s daughter Victoria Demchenko isn’t an Olympian, however she did compete within the 2012 Youth Olympics.
Ekaterina Karsten: That is one other instance of a descendent from the outdated Soviet system who almost matched Chusovitina’s mark by making it to the Tokyo Olympics. However she withdrew from rivalry lower than a yr earlier than the 2020 video games have been initially set to start as a result of an harm.
Sergei Dolidovich: That is the third instance of an athlete who nearly might have matched Chusovitina’s streak of eight consecutive Olympic appearances. He additionally might have been the primary athlete on this checklist to seem in an Olympic Video games through the 2022-2024 cycle. Whereas earlier instances have been primarily based on Olympians who had explicitly said an intent to attempt for an eighth Olympic look, within the case of Sergei Dolidovich it’s primarily based on the “what if he hypothetically determined to return out of retirement” practice of thought.
Whereas it might appear to be a attain to imagine a selected athlete will break his retirement pledge, one factor I’ve realized whereas researching this text is that it’s really fairly widespread for Olympians with seven Olympic appearances to retire after which come out of retirement. A few of the beforehand talked about athletes on this article have finished precisely that and it’s not a persona trait distinctive to Chusovitina.
However that may’t occur with Sergei Dolidovich as he’s successfully blocked from the Olympics. Dolidovich is from Belarus and brazenly opposed its dictator Alexander Lukashenko through the 2020-2021 mass demonstrations in opposition to his regime. Dolidovich’s political stance costed him his teaching job on the nationwide workforce, together with any hope of mounting an athletic comeback. Nevertheless it has additionally impacted the profession of his daughter who additionally brazenly helps her father’s politics. Daria Dolidovich is 17 years outdated and a promising junior, however her nationwide governing physique has deactivated her particular person figuring out quantity. It’s the snowboarding equal of an FIG license and with out it she can not compete internationally.
Sergei Martynov: His profession was fairly fascinating as he was technically Olympic teammates with Elena Shushunova, and received a gold medal in the identical Olympics as Gabby Douglas. He additionally has a daughter by the title of Maria Martynova who made her Olympic debut on the 2021 Olympics.
