Ukrainian gymnastics star wins beauty contest in the US at 47: what the Olympic champion looks like

Olympic gymnastics champion and 1992 Barcelona Games multi-medalist Tetiana Hutsu has won the Mrs. Michigan 2024 beauty pageant. The Ukrainian outperformed all the competitors in the Great Lakes state and will now compete for the All-American crown.

47-year-old Tetiana announced her new status on social media by posting a photo shoot.

"Official photo shoot as Mrs. Michigan. Thank you so much to my team, my son Anthony, and my husband Robert, I love you, and thank you for your support," Hutsu wrote under the photos with the crown and Mrs. Michigan ribbon.

The native of Odesa will now compete for the Mrs. USA title in Omaha, Nebraska, on August 3, 2024.

We would like to remind you that after the 1992 Olympics, 15-year-old Hutsu ended her career. As the gymnast later admitted, she had realized her dream, became an all-around team champion, and simply did not know where to go next.

However, she resumed training in Koncha Zaspa and thought about returning, but then in 1994, she was invited to the United States to open a gymnastics school. The 17-year-old Hutsu agreed to go overseas, and this determined her future life.

"It was a very difficult time in Ukraine back then: The 90s... My apartment was burglarized three times at that time, and almost everything was taken, including my Olympic gold medal. When I received an invitation to America, I saw it as a way to reach another level – I decided to take the chance to change my future and become a respected and recognized athlete and help my parents," Hutsu admitted in an interview with sports.ru.

The gymnast stayed in America to coach, starting with a salary of $8.25 per hour. She started with the batan, a type of gymnastics that is mysterious to Ukraine: "You throw a stick and it does twists and turns. When I came to one of the companies, the owner told me: "There's a group of 20 people, so go ahead and do it. ' And I didn't even know how to hold the stick, so I asked the children to show me. And then I taught them from my imagination."

In 2016, Tetiana finally opened her own gymnastics academy in Michigan, which reminds her of her native Odesa. Three years later, she organized the Tetiana Hutsu Crystal Cup competition.

Also, 26 years after the incident, the Ukrainian woman found the strength to tell about the fact that in Stuttgart in 1991, a 15-year-old girl was raped by a multiple Olympic gymnastics champion, Belarusian Vitaly Shcherbo, who was, as Tetiana said, "a monster who held me for many years."

Now Tetiana is happily married and has a son. And after opening her academy, she helped children from Ukraine – orphanages in Odesa, Kyiv, and Kharkiv. She sent clothes, sports goods, books, and autographs to inspire and support them morally. She also supports Ukraine in the war with Russia.

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