by site editor Rick McCharles
The Nastia Liukin story is one of the greatest in our sport’s history.
She became Olympic Champion due to persistence and dedication, her and her father coach both.
I’m a huge fan of both Nastia and Valeri. They are role models for us all.
If she had retired after Beijing, and was doing everything she’s doing now … no problem. The Nastia Liukin brand is strong.
But we Nastia fans, increasingly, have questions. If Nastia plans a comeback, as she continues to claim, how can she keep up her frantic schedule of media appearances and sponsorship endorsements?
Valeri understands this better than anyone.
No doubt Nastia has mixed feelings about a comeback. It’s difficult to concede “retirement”.
No doubt her agent councils that she should not retire. Her “value” as a brand would be diminished.
But I honestly feel she will not be returning to international competition representing the U.S.A.
I hope I’m wrong. Nastia would be an ideal leader of a young team. She could specialize in Bars and Beam.
Note: The original content of this post, now outdated, I archived in a comment.
39 comments ↓
looks like that post has gone already
Hey, you’re right.
Hopefully Andy is simply rewording something and will put it back up. I often do that.
I don’t keep up with these things, but all that I hear from most gymnasts on the businesses side of things doesn’t interest me. I am getting sick of hearing things second-hand, and really could care less. Much as I liked her a gymnast, I don’t need to keep up with people after they leave the sport. And yes, Nastia is in no way going to make a comeback. Let’s be honest.
regardless of wether she makes a comeback or not we a bond to have to put up with what every she does for the next 4 years, she is after all the “olympic champ”
I don’t think Nastia is coming back, but who knows.
Her business and Twitter stuff I could care less about, although I can see how people are getting a little annoyed with the “big secret” that always seems one day away from being revealed.
I shudder to think what kind of backlash Thornton got for that post. I didn’t see it, but it doesn’t take much to get some of the more rabid fans to go beserk. I’m just glad these people don’t have weapons of mass destruction.
I’m sick and tired of people bitching at either Nastia or Shawn because they don’t return to gymnastics. Let them live their lives and if you want to keep up with what they are doing keep up and if you don’t then don’t but stop the bitching, it is getting old…
Anything is possible. I don’t think there are many of us out there that thought Dawes, Chow, (and to a lesser sense, Miller) would have routines to show or even have a chance to make the team in 2000. Yet, 2 of the 3 did. I would bet if Miller had not botched her ankle, she would’ve been on too. I also thought there was no chance in heck that Hatch & Bhardwaj at 25 years old would make the 2004 team. Yet, they did. The US has put the “elderly” gymnasts on teams before…so if the motivation is there I say Nastia & Alicia should train their @sses off. I’m certainly not overly impressed by any of our gymnasts right now aside from Bross.
So … Andrew Thornton finally said what most pundits have only been hinting.
Like Andy, I think the odds of Nastia making a comeback now are low. Alicia Sacramone has a better chance to do it.
Nastia’s simply too busy with her many appearances. And what’s the big “secret” she’s been talking about on Twitter?
Has she been invited to join Dancing With The Stars?
Click through to read and comment – American Gymnast – A brutally honest email about Nastia Liukin...
UPDATE: That post seems to have been taken offline.
Quentin in the comments of that post made me laugh:
Andy really can’t get away from Nastia’s business pursuits.
Not so, Ceedeetje.
When either announces retirement, they will be embraced like Shannon Miller or Mary Lou.
It’s because fans are uncertain whether or not they will retire … that generates negative comments.
MS-
You bring up some good points, but don’t forget that Miller, Dawes, and Chow were training and competing in numerous professional competitions throughout 1997 and 1998 (the equivalent of 2009 and 2010). And I’m not talking about prancing around in a costume doing split leaps everywhere…they were competing world class routines that were just a notch below their 1996 Olympic ones. And Dawes competed in the 1998 American Classic, 1998 Sagitt World Cup, and 1998 Goodwill Games. She was hardly retired. In fact, note that she and Amy Chow were the only ones who NEVER looked out of shape throughout that entire quadrennial. Their bodies looked identical in 1998 and 2000 as they did in 1996. And they were the ones that made it. Although Shannon was competing in those competitions in 1998 as well, her body did mature quite a bit. In 2000 she looked very good, but her knees just weren’t handling the return to Olympic-level training. Neither were Jaycie Phelps’, or even Dominique Moceanu’s for that matter. And don’t forget that Mohini competed throughout 2001 and 2002, and she also NEVER looked out of shape. Amazingly, her body in 2004 looked identical to the way it did back in 1996! I don’t know what Annia Hatch looked like in between her retirement and her comeback in 2002, but I’d be willing to bet she never looked out of shape either. The key to making a “comeback” is to essentially never get out of shape at all. When a woman’s body begins to change, it ain’t coming back!
Can anybody tell me why there is a Nastia Liukin Cup rather than a Mary Lou Retton Cup or Shannon Miller Cup? Nastia is neither the first American AA winner nor the most decorated American gymnast.
luvgym I think Nastia has a very good agent, and I think in this day and age of media and hype she is a much bigger superstar than Mary Lou Retton or Shannon Miller. Nastia is a brand now, not just a champion.
She has the story of coming from a gymnastics pedigree, she has fans who have been following her for that reason alone since she first started in gymnastics. She shone in 2005 and then had two tough years before coming back to make the Olympic team. She won despite going into the competition as underdog behind Shawn Johnson.
But, I honestly think that the main reason she is being more financially successful is because the media is very different these days, and because she has a very good agent. Shannon Miller’s agent was quoted after 1992 as saying that he couldn’t market her because she looked like a little girl, not a woman. Nastia’s modelling has put her into the public eye and she is seen at the right events with the right people.
Bahaha a faceless online ad campaign over a year ago made her a big star. Right. That’s why she’s landed exactly zero endorsements since, got dropped by adidas, lost her clothing line and NBC won’t even get if her a reaction shot on a figure skating broadcast. What a star.
I agree with MissEducated. The media is totally different now than it was fifteen years ago. These girls are presented with a lot more opportunities than those in the past.
Why should Nastia or Shawn announce a retirement if neither of them are ready to? I don’t understand why everyone gets so worked up about Nastia not being in the gym right now. She stated in her interview with IG that she was focusing on being back for 2011 competition. Is she not entitled to have some fun right now?
Let’s face it. Nastia, Shawn, Alicia and Chellsie are all question marks for future world and olympic teams. Time will tell what happens with each of them.
I disagree with MissEducated. You were not kidding when you claimed “Nastia is a much bigger superstar than Mary Lou Retton or Shannon Miller”, right??? Maybe Shannon Miller, but there’s no way she’s a bigger superstar than Mary Lou. They are NOT even comparable. But the key point here is: financial success does NOT make her deserve the honor of having a competition series named after her. It should be decided by accomplishment, NOT financial success. Also, to the general public, Shawn Johnson is the biggest gymnastics star, not Nastia.
Glad I could provide a chuckle for you Coach Rick. The sad part is it wasn’t meant to be a funny comment though I can see how it could be. It was more a comment on the state of things in relation to Andy’s brutally honest essay. What he wrote took serious intestinal fortitude knowing how rabid fans can be. I hope he puts it back up as it was his honest opinion but I don’t think it will go back up for business related reasons which is a shame.
I truly believe that Nastia will be back to competition even if it is something like she did at the 2009 Nationals.
Shawn on the other hand we will never see again and she just needs to announce her retirement because she’s losing fans fast with her I’m coming back statements and I’m in the gym training for a week newspaper articles.
The only reason Shannon and Mary Lou don’t have a cup named after themselves is because they didn’t try to do that. They are making their opportunities in other ways. Still, if they wanted their own cup, they could get one easy peasy.
I don’t think a woman’s body can’t come back after it changes. That’s just not true. Shannon was still doing full-ins on floor in 1998. Almost all of those gymnasts made big changes from when they were juniors but then went on to do well with their mature bodies. I think the deciding factor was how much training time the gymnasts had going into 2000/2004, not whether or not their body changed.
The same thing has happened to me as a blogger.
We submit text, photos and videos … then that content appears in a “page” over which we have no control.
The ads sometimes change. Sometimes contradict the content of the post.
It’s common to see on the internet.
Worst of all is when some of the FLICKR photos that appear on Gymnastics Coaching randomly, are … suggestive.
… I could see Nastia “competing” …
But not World’s or Olympics. Not unless she goes 100% back to the gym for a year.
There’s not much incentive for either of those meets unless she’s going to medal at them.
luvgym – I honestly think that Nastia is bigger than Mary Lou. It is only my opinion and I am sure that many people disagree with me. Mary Lou might have been the first American woman to win the AA but she did it at a boycotted Olympics with a fair few strong gymnastics nations missing. Notable Soviets that were missing at the time were Natalia Yurchenko who had won the world championships the year before and Olga Mostepanova who was having a pretty kick ass 1984.
I am not American so perhaps I am not biased towards Mary Lou, or perhaps I am overly biased against Mary Lou, but Nastia will always to me be the bigger star who has accomplished the highest honour in gymnastics. If she wants a cup series named after her and has got the agent/manager/whatever it is she needs to accomplish it then go her!
I don’t get what’s so great about Nastia. Sure, she’s an Olympic champion, but so is Carly Patterson. And Nastia’s success was helped a lot by the fact that she had her dad as a coach, so she wasn’t crippled with gym fees and had a coach who was willing to work with her, no matter what, to ensure that she at least medalled at the Olympics.
I’d really like to like Nastia more, but she just comes off as being incredibly self-absorbed, especially after Beijing.
MissEducated, you’re not American, so I don’t blame you for not knowing what “Mary Lou” means to Americans. The fact here is: Mary Lou was, is, and will be for a very long time, the ICON of gymnastics to the general public in USA. She inspired several generations of people to start or get involved in gymnastics. Without Mary Lou, the status of gymnastics in US would NOT be the same as of today. Sure, Nastia won Olympic AA gold, but she’s neither the first nor the only one to do so, so what’s special about her?! Both Mary Lou Retton and Shannon Miller are much more deserved of having competition series named after them. It’s beyond my understanding why Nastia thinks she deserves to have this honor before Mary Lou (the first American AA winner and started a new era for gymnastics in US) and Shannon Miller (the most decorated American gymnast so far).
Aren’t Shannon and Nastia tied?
Mary Lou got me started in gymnastics, but I do find it funny she never won a World metal
Empress, the reason there was no “reaction” shot from her is that 1)there are a lot bigger celebs in the skating world that Skating fans care about to get reaction shots from (IE: Brian Botanio’s reaction), 2)She hid quite well from the cameras and watched the event from a private viewing area.
As for Nastia vs. Shawn coming back, I think at this very point in time, Shawn is more likely. Why? A)She didn’t win exactly what she was hopping to and b)she actually is in the gym for the most part except for this Olympic torch thing. Nastia? Not in the gym as far as I’ve heard.
Appeal to the targeted audience is more important than who ‘deserves’ a competition serie. I think most of the gymnasts competing today are bigger fans of Nastia, compared to the lady who is the face of depends.
bm, NO, Nastia and Shannon are NOT tied. They tied in world medals, but Shannon has 2 more Olympic medals. I do find it funny that Nastia and her agent have been trying very hard to tell people she is tied with Shannon in “world medals”, but never mentioned (on purpose) the fact that Shannon has 2 more Olympic medals.
[...] of seeing their updates about taking a flight to X, Y and Z etc. Here’s a few links from Gymnastics Coaching , Full In Full Out and Gymtruthteller’s Blog to get an idea as to how people are feeling – [...]
Tru Nastia is tied with Miller’s World medal cout (even though Nastia has competed in one less World competition than Miller) True, Nastia is behind in Olympic medals b/c as of yet has only been to a single Olympic (and tied Miller’s medal count for a single olympic)
Shannon Miller is the most decorated American gymnast. Duh!
Miller has only 9 medals because she competed against some of the greatest most successful gymnasts in the sports history. If she only had to compete against Dawes her entire career she would have a lot more medals. Not to mention during her prime she missed two worlds in 92 and 96. Look what Shannon accomplished injured in 92, 93 and 94 AND 95. Nastia was only injured in 06 and she was gifted a spot on the team for one event. That never would have happened during the 90′s because you could not afford to take a gymnast for one event. When Shannon stepped out of bounds she placed out of the medals. Now a days you win gold
Nastia had Chellsie and then Shawn PERIOD. She had no other All arounders to compete with and don’t even say Anna Pavlova because that just show’s your ignorance of the sport.
It really makes me mad when I hear people put down Miller to promote Nastia and I am not even a Miller fan.
These days the Nastia fanatics put down Miller’s entire career because they want people to think of Nastia as some great gymnast.
Thank you “Pulease”! I couldn’t have said it better myself.
If the age limit hadn’t gone into effect, Nastia more than likely would have competed in two Olympic games by now. If Shannon were competing today, whe wouldn’t have even been able to make the ’92 team. We’ll never know how many medals Nastia could have earned if she had the same advantage Shannon had.
Nastia has a well earned AA Olympic gold. I know it’s hard for many to accept, but she IS a great gymnast!
no one here is putting down shannon, just saying that nastia is a great gymnast. both are legendary, and both had points of arguments you could bring up to give them the edge, but the fact of the matter is, they competed for the same, at different times, and things are different yes because of how the sport has evolved. nonetheless they are two of the greatest gymnasts of all time.
how many competitions have we seen Nastia cry in because of a mistake?
Miller on the other hand cried in almost every competition (had to stop watching there for a while)
(I already posted this comment under the “gymnast Shannon Miller – best interview ever” blog, but I have to post it here again because I have a STRONG opinion on it!)
It’s really annoying that USA-Gymnastics has been putting down all other great American gymnasts to promote Nastia Liukin. Isn’t Shannon Miller still the most decorated American gymnast? Why USAG chooses to ignore Shannon?? Seriously, the only thing I can figure out that makes Nastia special than the others is that her father is Valeri Liukin, a man who has lots of connections and relationships with FIG and USAG. It’s a shame there’s so much politics in gymnastics!!!
i don’t think anyone is being put down just because nastia has a competition named after her.
I totally agree with you, gymania (#37)!! Shame on USAG to put down the accomplishments of Shannon Miller!! Yes, her father is nobody compared to Valeri Liukin, but Shannon is the best ever and the most decorated American gymnast!!!!!
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