Nastia Liukin Video Interview, U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist

When you listen to U.S. Olympic Gymnast Nastia Liukin, 22, tell the story, it seems she was destined to be an Olympian from the time she was born. Nastia’s father, Valeri Liukin, won two gold and two silver medals as a Soviet gymnast in the 1980 Olympic Games. Her mother, Anna Kotchneva, was a world champion rhythmic gymnast. “I remember as soon as I knew what the words ‘Olympic games’ meant I wanted to go there,” Liukin told Uinterview exclusively. “Whatever that meant, I wanted to go to the Olympics and I wanted to follow in their footsteps and achieve what they did.”

A winner of nine World Championship medals and five Olympic medals in the 2008 Beijing Games, Liukin has made her mark as one of the most successful gymnasts of her generation. Hoping to go for gold again at the London Olympics, Liukin was looking to build upon the silver medals she received in team gymnastics, bars and beam. “Silver, you’re so close to winning the gold and fourth place you’re so close to getting a medal. Going into these Olympics, I think that on those three I can definitely upgrade on those, and I think that for the U.S. it’s been quite a few years since Team USA has won the gold medal as a team,” she told Uinterview prior to qualifications. Unfortunately, Liukin didn’t make the team – but she remains in the Olympic Pantheon and looks to have a bright future in the entertainment world.

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