Liukin, Nastia

▪ 2009

Anastasia Liukin; Anastasiya Valeryevna Lyukina 

born Oct. 30, 1989, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.

      At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, American gymnast Nastia Liukin, age 18, won five medals, including the individual all-around gold. She also earned the silver medal on balance beam and the bronze on floor exercise and led her team to the silver, the U.S. women's second consecutive Olympic team silver medal. On Liukin's signature event, the uneven bars, she and Chinese gymnast He Kexin tied for the top score. After the tie-breaking procedure was put into place, He was awarded the gold medal, and Liukin received the silver. Although Liukin was disappointed not to win bars, her five medals made her the most successful gymnast in Beijing. In October the Women's Sports Foundation named her Individual Sportswoman of the Year.

      Liukin was born into a family with extraordinary gymnastics genes. Her Kazakh-born father and coach, Valery Lyukin, won four medals for the Soviet Union at the 1988 Olympic Games and two more at the 1991 world championships, and in 1987 he became the first gymnast to complete a triple back somersault on floor exercise. Her mother, Anna Kochneva, also competed for the Soviet Union and was the 1987 rhythmic gymnastics world champion in clubs. After the dissolution (1991) of the Soviet Union, Lyukin moved his family to the U.S., where he cofounded the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) in Plano, Texas. (The family anglicized their name to Liukin when they became American citizens.) Liukin's parents initially objected to her early interest in gymnastics, but she soon became known for her stylish grace and the long lines in her gymnastics moves, making all her moves look effortless.

      Liukin was not age-eligible to qualify for the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, so she watched as Carly Patterson, her teammate from WOGA, won the all-around title. In 2005 Liukin won her first U.S. senior national title, and at the world championships that year, she took gold on the uneven bars and balance beam and earned the silver medal on floor exercise. In the all-around competition, she finished second to her teammate Chellsie Memmel by the slenderest of margins: 0.001 point. Liukin again won the U.S. title in 2006, but she sprained her ankle at training camp just before the 2006 world championships. Although she was able to compete only on the uneven bars, she made the best of her one-event appearance, winning the silver medal, along with the team silver.

      After ankle surgery Liukin was back on form at the 2007 world championships, claiming gold on balance beam and in the team competition and silver on bars. She was also fifth all-around, showing the world that the title was within reach. Liukin, whose nine world medals tied the U.S. record with Shannon Miller, certainly followed in her parents' footsteps, but she left her own mark in the sport of gymnastics.

Luan Peszek

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