Nastia Liukin

Anastasia "Nastia" Valeryevna Liukin (/ˈljuːkɪn/; Russian: Анастасия Валерьевна Люкина Russian pronunciation: [ˈlʲʉkʲɪnə]; born October 30, 1989) is a Russian-born American former artistic gymnast. She is the 2008 Olympic all-around champion, a five-time Olympic medalist, the 2005 and 2007 World champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 World champion on the uneven bars.

Quotes

• I think for me, the biggest thing was my integrity being on the line, my integrity being questioned essentially. I didn’t win the Olympics with special treatment. I didn’t want to be there with special treatment.
• That was a moment that I was proud of because everyone constantly says, ‘Oh, you’re not strong.’ ‘You’re too this.’ ‘You’re too that.’ But to show that, yeah, I’m not physically the strongest one there, but I still was able to do something like that was a moment that made me proud.
• I wanted to give them that feeling of you are special, you are incredible, No matter what your accomplishments are, you are just as good as everybody else. I wanted them to feel like they were competing at the Olympics and now that they had made it, this is your moment, now just go out there and enjoy.
  • Nastia Liukin on 'Special Forces' journey: "The mental toughness... that doesn't just go away Olympics, 17 January 2023 by Scott Bregman