She has come out of retirement and decided to carry on to the Games in the French capital when she will be approaching her 50th birthday.

Chusovitina won gold in the vault at the Uzbek national championships last weekend.

"I thought about it well and decided that after the Asian Games, I would also prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympics," Chusovitina told the Uzbek Olympic Committee this week.

Last year in Tokyo, Chusovitina wore a leotard with the number eight emblazoned on the front to symbolise her eighth Olympic appearance.

In so doing, she became the oldest gymnast to compete at an Olympics breaking a record held since 1928 by British gymnast Queenie Judd, who was 41 when she performed in Amsterdam.

Chusovitina's first Olympic appearance came 30 years ago.

She won an Olympic gold as part of the Unified team which competed instead of the old Soviet Union at Barcelona 1992. 

At Sydney 2000, Chusovitina competed for Uzbekistan only months after giving birth to her son Alisher, and at Beijing 2008, she won silver in the vault at the age of 33 representing Germany.

She also competed at Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004, London 2012 and Rio 2016. 

It was her first individual Olympic medal.

She also competed in 17 World Championships in a career which has already spanned 30 years.

 It was unprecedented for her sport and she was inducted into the International Gymnastics Federation Hall of Fame.

"I think I am one of the pioneers, to let every woman know that you can be a wife, you can be a daughter, you can be a mother, and you can be an Olympic athlete and an Olympic medalist," Chusovitina told Inside Gymnastics Magazine before the re-arranged Olympic Games in Tokyo last year. 

“Anything is possible, and age is just a number!"

If Chusovitina does compete at Paris 2024, she will equal the record number of Olympic appearances by a female athlete.

The record is currently held by Nino Salukvadze, a female Georgian sport shooter, who made her ninth consecutive appearance at Tokyo 2020 having made her debut at Seoul in 1988, when, representing the Soviet Union, she won the gold medal in the 25 metre pistol and silver in the 10m air pistol.

She competed for the Unified Team at Barcelona 1992 and has subsequently has represented Georgia, winning a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol at Beijing 2008. 

She currently shares the record with canoeist Josefa Idem-Guerrini, who took part in eight Olympics from Los Angeles 1984 to London 2012, representing West Germany and Italy and winning one gold medal, two silvers and one bronze.

Canada's show jumper Ian Millar holds the record for the most appearances at the Olympic Games having appeared in 10 between Munich 1972 and London 2012, when he was 65.

His best best performance was a silver medal at Beijing 2008.