On Friday, 18 year old Nastia Liukin won the Olympic gold medal in the all-around competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Nastia's father, Valeri Liukin, was a two time gold medal winner at the 1988 Seoul Games, and her mother, Anna Kochneva Liukin, was the 1987 rhythmic world champion with clubs. Nastia began at the age of 4 years old to watch her parents as they practiced and over time began to perform better than her parents.
During training for the 2006 Worlds, Liukin sprained her right ankle while on the trampoline. This injury then limited her to the bars only in Aarhus, Denmark where she won a silver medal. Nastia then had surgery in late 2006. But she put to rest any doubt when she came back to win third place at the 2007 Nationals. Nastia now has nine world champion medals which is more than both her parents combined. She would like to go on to study internationl business but says she may open a clothing boutique with her teammate Alicia Sacramone. Nastia had a small speaking role in the movie, StickIt! and starred with Nadia Comaneci in an Adidas commercial aired during the 2004 Olympic Games. Congratulations to you, Nastia!
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