By sportswriters Wang Meng and Lin Deren

CHATEAUROUX, France, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Nino Salukvadze quickly dismissed the possibility of participating in the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028 when being asked in the mixed zone.

"I'm stopping. I'm stopping. Please," the 55-year-old said, pleadingly putting her hands together.

Salukvadze finished last in Friday's 25m pistol qualification, but it didn't matter -- the Georgian had already cemented her place in Olympic history as the first female athlete to compete in 10 Olympic Games, matching the record set by Canadian equestrian Ian Millar.

"If you had asked me after my first Olympics if I would compete in the next nine, I would have said, 'No, that's not possible.'"

"40 years. It's almost a lifetime. But it's been a wonderful journey. I have made many friends from every country. This is the most important aspect of attending the Olympics," said Salukvadze, who began competing at the age of 15.

Salukvadze had an incredible Olympic debut at Seoul 1988, winning gold in the 25m pistol and silver in the 10m air pistol.

"When I was preparing for Seoul, it was a tough time. When I won gold and silver, I thought, 'One more (medal)? I can't (do that).' If I had won two golds, I might not have continued," she laughed.

From Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, and now Paris, she never missed a single edition.

"When I win medals, I keep them aside and prepare for the next competition," she revealed, sharing the secret behind her career's longevity.

For the veteran, "each Olympics is different," but the most memorable ones were the Seoul and Beijing Games. In 2008, she finished with a bronze in the 10m air pistol, and notably kissed silver medalist Natalia Paderina of Russia on the podium, despite their countries being at war.

"I did it for peace. It was stressful for me because, during the opening ceremony, the war broke out in my country," she recalled. "I thought of my husband, my children, my mom. I thought of what I could do for my country and my people, and I decided I must do a good job."

Tokyo was expected to be her swansong, but her father, who continued to coach her in his 90s, inspired her to continue.

"After nine Olympics, I said I was finished because it is really hard work. But my father said to me that it is only three years, that I am good enough, and that I should try to qualify for the Olympics. Georgia is a very small country and nobody knows about us. After this record, I hope that people will know about my country," she told eurolympic.org in 2023.

Salukvadze has been suffering from declining health over the past year, and her father's death in March deeply saddened her, but she managed to persevere.

"My father was a very clever coach. In the shooting range, I never saw him as my father, but as my coach. He was also an excellent psychologist. Our sport is 90-percent mental; you can learn the techniques quickly, but at the Olympics, all athletes are very good, and it is a battle of minds."

"He dedicated his life to this sport. Techniques, tactics, psychology, he gave me everything to prepare me, and now I pass these on to my athletes," said Salukvadze, who has been coaching Georgian shooters for 15 years.

"Compared to being an athlete, coaching is more difficult. Some countries invited me to coach them, but I feel that my athletes are very young and I must stay with them."

She also coached her son Tsotne Machavariani, and they became the first mother and son to compete at the same Olympics at Rio 2016. "But he's not listening to me at the moment," she joked.

When asked if she would be at the Los Angeles Games as a coach, she replied, "That depends on my athletes." Enditem

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