Anastasia Valeryevna Liukina, professionally known as Nastia Liukin is a Russian-born American former artistic gymnast. She entered her first ‘National Championship’ for the US at the age of 12. In 2003, she ended up winning the junior division title of the ‘US National Championship’ and earned gold medals in three of its four segments. She also won an Olympic gold medal in the all-around individual gymnastics competition in 2008. She won gold medals at the World Championships in 2005 and 2007. Nastia founded the Nastia Liukin Cup in 2010. Following her success at the 2008 ‘Olympics,’ she became a local celebrity and appeared on many US talk shows. In addition, Nastia announced her retirement in 2012 after a failed attempt of regaining her place on the national gymnastics team. Additionally, she released her autobiography, “Finding My Shine”, on 24th November 2015.
Nastia Liukin brought all of her styles to the Tokyo Olympics
With all eyes on the women’s gymnastics team led by Simone Biles former Team USA member and US Olympic Hall of Fame member Nastia Liukin, 31, is on hand to cover the team. While the 2008 all-around champion and former Dancing with the Stars competitor is not competing in the games this time around, the “fashion queen” still is sending social media users into a frenzy with her unique and bold outfits showcased on national television.
“The fashion queen has arrived,” the official Olympics Twitter account shared on 19th July. “Who’s ready for @NastiaLiukin’s looks during the #TokyoOlympics?” In the photo, Liukin is seen looking casual and comfy but stylish in a lavender ensemble. Liukin has been in Tokyo for a week and has already showcased numerous bold and vibrant outfits from pink power suits to purple bell bottom pants during her time at the games on her Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Famous For
- Being a Russian-born American former artistic gymnast.
- For winning the junior division title of the ‘US National Championship’ and earned gold medals in three of its four segments.
Source: @shadeglobal
What is Nastia Liukin Birthplace?
Nastia Liukin took birth on 30th October 1989 with the real name of Anastasia Valeryevna Liukina. Her birthplace is Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, Russia. However, the family immigrated to the United States when Nastia was two and a half years old, following the breakup of the Soviet Union, and settled first in New Orleans before moving to Texas. She is of Russian nationality and belongs to the Russian-American ethnicity. She has Russian ancestry. She follows the Christian religion as she is also a member of the Russian Orthodox Church. Nastia has celebrated her 31st birthday as of 2020 which is her present age. Thus, her race is white and her zodiac sign is Scorpio. She is the only child of two former Soviet champion gymnasts: 1988 Summer Olympics gold medalist Valeri Liukin (father) and 1987 world clubs champion in rhythmic gymnastics Anna Kotchneva (mother).
Talking about Nastia’s education, she graduated from Spring Creek Academy, located in Plano, Texas, in the spring of 2007. She enrolled as a freshman international business major at Southern Methodist University in January 2008. She stated that she hoped to continue her studies at New York University in the future. In January 2013, Liukin attended New York University where she studied sports management and psychology. In May 2016, she graduated from NYU.
How was the Career of Nastia Liukin?
- Nastia Liukin kicks off her gymnastic career at the age of 12 and a half by competing in her first National Championships as a junior in 2002 after which she was chosen to compete with the U.S. team at the 2002 Junior Pan American Championships, where she contributed to the team gold medal and placed second on the uneven bars and balance beam and in the all-around.
- She was one of the strongest junior gymnasts in the United States by 2003. She also won the junior division of the U.S. National Championships, as well as gold medals on three of the four events: uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise.
- She was a member of the gold-medal-winning U.S. team at the 2003 Pan Am Games however, she was ten months too young to compete as a senior in 2004 and thus was not eligible for a place on the U.S. team for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
- In her senior career, she won her first senior National Championships and, once again, earned gold medals on the bars and beam in 2005. She finished second in the all-around behind teammate Chellsie Memmel with a score of 37.823 at the 2005 World Championships in Melbourne.
- She won the gold on the uneven bars and balance beam and the silver on the floor exercise in event finals as well as she placed first in the all-around at the American Cup in March 2006.
- Liukin tied with teammate Memmel for first in the all-around at the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships, won the uneven bars title and a silver medal on beam and contributed to the U.S. team’s gold-medal performance.
- She also qualified for the event finals on bars, where she took a small step on her dismount and finished with a 16.05, earning a silver medal behind Britain’s Beth Tweddle.
- As well, Liukin was named to the American team for the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany whereas her score for her bar routine in team finals was 16.375, the highest score of the day and, in the end, the entire World Championships.
- Liukin rallied and regained her world champion title on the balance beam with a score of 16.025 in the event finals and earned a silver on the uneven bars behind Russia’s Ksenia Semenova, scoring a 16.300 after taking a step on her dismount.
- Nastia’s first meet of the 2008 season was the American Cup in New York City, where she defeated 2007 winner Shawn Johnson to regain her title. She posted the highest score of the meet, a 16.600 on the uneven bars.
- She competed at the Pacific Rim Championships in San Jose in March 2008, where she led the American team to a gold medal and won the all-around and balance beam titles.
- She fell on the floor on her double front tuck the first day of competition at the 2008 U.S. National Championships in Boston however, she regained her national champion title on the beam and defended her national title on the uneven bars for the fourth consecutive year, scoring a 17.050 in preliminaries and a 17.100 in finals which was the highest recorded score for any American gymnast at any event since the advent of the new “Code of Points”.
- She competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials in Philadelphia in June, finishing second behind Johnson and earning a spot on the American team for Beijing.
- Liukin performed on three events: beam, bars, and floor exercise in the team finals at the 2008 Olympics. Her uneven bars score of 16.900 was the highest mark awarded in the entire Olympic competition. She performed second on the balance beam, matching her qualifying score of 15.975. On floor exercise, she stepped out of bounds on her first tumbling pass, incurring a 0.1-point penalty, with a final score of 15.200. The American team earned the silver medal, 2.375 points behind China.
- In the event finals, she displayed a beautiful routine to earn a surprising bronze medal on floor exercise with a score of 15.425, behind Shawn Johnson, with 15.500, and Romanian Sandra Izbasa, with 15.650.
- She scored 16.025 to claim silver behind Shawn Johnson’s 16.225 in the balance beam final and was named the USOC Female Athlete of the Month (August) and ultimately USOC Co-Sportswoman of the Year alongside swimmer Natalie Coughlin.
- She was announced as one of 12 semifinalists for the AAU Sullivan Award in March 2009.
- Liukin’s Olympic teammate Shawn Johnson won the AAU Sullivan Award on 15th April 2009.
- Nastia made her first post-Olympics competitive appearance at the CoverGirl Classic, where she competed only on the balance beam. She placed fourth and looked on track to possibly make a fourth World Championships team.
- Nastia petitioned for a spot at the Visa National Championships after several months of conditioning, training, revamping routines, and showing readiness at summer training camp. She scored a 15.1 on night one, followed by a 14.1 on night two to place sixth on the event on beam at the Visa Championships. On bars, she placed 20th after scoring a 13.150 on night one and 13.650 on night two. Despite this, Liukin was chosen to compete at the Olympic Trials.
- Her gymnastics career came to an end after the 2012 Olympic Trials. She fell off the bars on her Gienger release on the final night of competition but got back up to finish her routine and landed her first competitive dismount since her comeback. Her bars routine received a 13.950. After she finished her beam routine, which scored a 14.950, she received a standing ovation from the 18,000 fans in the HP Pavilion in San Jose.
- Despite the end of her gymnastics career, Nastia went to London as the athlete representative for the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
Source: @teenvogue
Media appearances
- Apart from gymnastics, Nastia had cameo roles in the April 2006 Touchstone Pictures film “Stick It” as well as she has starred on many talk shows in the United States, including “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show”.
- She was on The Tour of Gymnastics Superstars, which was broadcast nationwide on MyNetworkTV.
- She appeared as a guest model on the 16th April 2012 episode of “The Price Is Right” and, she was also announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on the 20th season of “Dancing with the Stars” on 24th February 2015.
- She was announced as the grand marshal for the 99th Indianapolis 500 on 4th May 2015.
- Liukin later competed on “American Ninja Warrior”, taking part in the Red Nose Day special edition whereas she is also a professional speaker on such subjects as Olympians and women in sports.
Floor music
- 2006-2008: “Variations on Dark Eyes”
- 2004-2005: “Second Kill” and “Building the Bullet” by Luis Bacalov
- 2001-2003: “Rondo Capriccioso” by Camille Saint-Saens
Who is Nastia Liukin Dating?
Nastia Liukin is an unmarried lady. She was previously engaged to Matt Lombardi on 1st June 2015. Lombardi is an American former Boston College hockey player who played for 2 seasons in the ECHL. However, Liukin’s representative confirmed in November 2018 that she and Lombardi had called off their engagement after a three-year relationship. She is not dating anyone as of now. Furthermore, Nastia is straight by sexual orientation. She currently resides in Parker, Texas, U.S.
Source: @people
How much is Nastia Liukin Net Worth?
Nastia Liukin is a retired Russian-American artistic gymnast who has a net worth of $3 million dollars as of 2021. She has also a handsome amount of salary which is around $235,294 per year. She appeared in an Adidas commercial with Nadia Comaneci that ran during the 2004 Olympics and a 2008 commercial for Visa Inc. She signed an endorsement deal on 15th March 2010 and appears in commercials for Subway. She was signed to be one of four American Olympians featured on Wheaties cereal boxes after the Beijing Olympics. In addition, her major source of income is from her gymnastic and TV personality career.
How tall is Nastia Liukin?
Nastia Liukin is a beautiful lady who is 5 ft 3 in or 160 cm whereas her body weighs around 52 kg or 115 lbs. She has good-looking blonde hair and green eyes color. Nastia has a broad forehead, sharp chin, unique eye color and round, protruding eyes, extremely toned, and compact body which has attracted a lot of people towards her. Moreover, she has a slim body build with 33.5-25-35 in or 85-63.5-89 cm of body measurement.
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