Coach and gym owner Valeri Liukin is an Olympic gold medalist (1988), and he’s coached an Olympic gold medalist, daughter Nastia, the recently crowned Olympic all-around champ. But, as the hype of Beijing begins to recede, you can find Liukin right where he was before Nastia’s Olympic glory: coaching in his WOGA gym Texas.
The latest addition to Liukin’s existing stable of Elite gymnasts— Nastia, Rebecca Bross, Grace McLaughlin and Christa Tanella—is 2007 world gold medalist Ivana Hong, who officially made the move to WOGA last week. (Hong had most recently trained under Al and Armine Fong at GAGE in Mo.)
What about Nastia?
… “She’s in the gym again, regular training,†Liukin confirmed. “With the exception [that] she’s very busy traveling. That really kills me. She has to do a lot of appearances, promoting meets, working with sponsors. So, business-wise, she’s very busy. [This past week] she was in Chicago, she was in New York and now she’s in New Orleans. …
As a father, he wants his daughter to succeed in business. But as a coach, Valeri is frustrated.
read more – Inside Gymnastics – WOGA Gears Up for ’09
Gymnastics Coaching.com 