Nastia
Nastia
When Nastia Liukin arrives for competition at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, she will remove her warmup suit, emblazoned emphatically with the letters “USA,” and compete in a red, white and blue leotard. “This is a very typical American kid,” said her mother, Anna.
Nastia is the diminutive form of the name Anastasia, as Dasha is for Daria. It’s common in Russia to have “short” names for the “real” name. On the men’s team, Sasha Artemev’s real name is Alexander.
But as Liukin leaps to grab the bars in Beijing, bedecked in those patriotic hues that will have NBC’s cameras dutifully following her every move as a marquee American athlete, she will do so with a sense of history and pride that differs vastly from that of teammate Shawn Johnson, the Iowan daughter of Iowan parents who is the all-around favorite. Anastasia Valeryevna Liukin was born in Moscow in the fall of 1989, just as the Soviet Union faced collapse. Her mother wasn’t just another pretty Russian face, but a world champion rhythmic gymnast, a product of the Soviet athletic empire. Her father, Valeri, wasn’t simply the man who had married Anna Kotchneva, but a true athletic hero, a Kazakh who is the owner of four medals - two gold, two silver - from the artistic gymnastics competition at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Nastia Liukin’s accomplishments — and the expectations they’ve created — seem almost too much for someone who turned 18 just two months ago. Although she lost most of 2007 to an ankle injury, she has still managed to win nine World Championships medals, tied with Shannon Miller for the most in U.S. history.
Nastia is Moscow-born but quintessentially American. A hybrid of her mother’s dancer’s build and her father’s intensity, she grinds out countless hours with Valeri in the gym. With her trademark grace, she has won nine world championship medals, tied for the most in U.S. history. Now the Olympics, the only thing missing, are finally here.
Update as of January 22, 2007. In the next few days, Nastia will start the fourth chemotherapy block. Unfortunately, neither her mother, nor her siblings matched as related donors. Nastia’s father is currently being tested as well.
Who do you think is a better gymnast, Nastia Liukin or Shawn Johnson? Nastia is very flexible and elongates all her moves, but is very lanky and swings her legs all over the place.
The Liukin and Johnson camps are friendly. And Liukin said she doesn’t focus on what others think of her compared to Johnson, though she was stung by criticism that her best days were behind her following a third-place finish at nationals in August.
