World and Olympic champion Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan is continuing her battle for her career and her family’s livelihood despite her son’s illness and adverse conditions. Last year, Alisher Kurpanov was diagnosed with leukaemia and was hospitalised in Cologne, Germany, where he has been treated Fans and friends from all over the world rallied to collect money for Alisher’s treatment. After his first two sets of chemotherapy, he has been making progress, but suffered a slight set back last week. “He suddenly started running a temperature of about 38 degrees, and nobody really knows where it came from,” Chusovitina told Gymworld. “He also needs a another dose of chemotherapy. He was getting stronger after the first round." While in Cologne, Chusovitina lives in the Elternhaus, a facility funded by charity that allows parents of children undergoing cancer treatment to live near the hospital. “I spend most of my time at the hospital with Alisher now. I’m either in the gym or with him.”

Chusovitina’s husband Bakhodir Kurpanov, a wrestler who competed in the Sydney Olympics, is currently at home in Tashkent. “We haven’t been together for two months now, it’s tough,” Chusovitina admits, “but he has a competition coming up soon in Germany, and we should be able to meet up there. He really wants to see Alisher.” In addition, Oksana is also having to do without with her long time coach Svetlana Kuznetsova, currently working with the Uzbek team back home. “We speak on the phone a lot, and she supports me, but of course it’s not ideal.” In Cologne she trains with the gymnasts of Turnteam Toyota Köln, including Daria Bijak, Lisa Brüggemann and Birgit Schweigert, and is tutored by Belarussian born coach Zhanna Polyakova.

Chusovitina plans on competing exhibition at the upcoming German National Championships, scheduled for June 20-22 in Heilbronn. “I have to compete, I need the number of competitive routines to stabilise my programme,” she states emphatically and hints that she is not settling for average performances, ”I’m trying to upgrade my floor routine – my goal is to compete a split leg double layout to punch front mount and a full-twisting double layout in my second pass on floor. I’m also hoping to make the double twisting layout Tsukahara my second vault.” At a recent control competition for the German team, Chusovitina already successfully landed the spilt leg double layout-punch front combination as well as her trademark tucked full-out. While her ultimate goal is making the Athens Olympics (they would be her fourth), she is now focusing on the Anaheim Worlds, where she will be one of two female gymnasts to compete for Uzbekistan. “Of course I miss Tashkent, I would love to be there, but what can I do? I have to be here for my son and I have better training conditions here than at home. It’s really hot now in Tashkent, which doesn’t make it any easier.”

nora