Nastia Liukin's Gymnastic Champion

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The national anthem plays, the flag rises and the champion on the podium is wearing gold. Not just any gold though. Olympic gold, the kid of golden award that makes the one wearing it as the best in the world at that chosen sport. The kind of gold that inspires the next generation. Olympic Champions do not fall on that podium by luck though. As Nastia Liukin 2008 Olympic all-around women 's gymnastic champion proved, many champions start from nothing and work hard to earn the gold.
Of course, Nastia Liukin was not a United States Women 's Gymnastic team member from the start. As a matter of fact, she was born not even a United States citizen. She was born Anastasia Valeryevna Liukin on October 30, 1989 in Moscow, Russia when it was still apart
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Her father, Valeri, served as her head coach and she ‘trained’ at his World Olympic Gymnastic Academy throughout her competitive career(USA). By the age of 12 Liukin was considered an elite gymnast(Nastia Bio). In her junior career she earned first place all around title at major competitions(USA). In 2003 she won the Junior National Championship all around. She also took first on bars, beam, and floor for the event( Nastia Liukin.com). That same year she was on the team that won the team gold at the panam Games, an event she finished second at all around; she was on 13 years old. She finished junior competitions with a repeat of her 2003 results at the 20034 National Championship. She entered gymnastics senior age competitions on stride at the top of her …show more content…
She made many T.V appearances during the promotional tour after the Olympics of course. However, some of her most memorable times on screen were not only as an athlete. She made a cameo appearance in the movie “Stick It”, played Chuck Bass’ love interest on the popular T.V. series “Gossip Girl” and danced into the hearts of America in 2015 with her appearance on “Dancing With the Stars”. She also continued to work in the gymnastics world as a commentator for many televised events. Liukin, though a famous athlete, still enjoys many life experiences of other young adults in the United States. She began New York University in the spring semester of 2013 to study sports management(Nastia.com). In June of 2015 she announced her engagement to Matt Lombardi via Twitter. Nastia Liukin has lived the life that most who immigrate to the United States dream of. Feeling a broken country and starting from nothing, she put in the long hours and difficult work it takes to achieve greatness. Though her parents feared for her to struggle through the hard things of competitive gymnastics, they supported and trained her all the way to Olympic glory. Not only is she the second most decorated U.S. women 's gymnast, she is a high achieving individual who is able to use her drive to propel her through

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