Quick Chat: Nastia Liukin

Nastia Liukin Photo © Nick Laham / Getty Images

Well-known for her balletic style and incredibly difficult bar routine, Nastia Liukin will be an essential part of the US team in Beijing. She earned one of two guaranteed spots at the Olympic Trials last weekend, even with some mistakes during the second round of competition. Here’s what she had to say after the meet about her Trials performance, and the people who’ve helped her handle the pressure of it all.

What do you think happened during day two of the Olympic Trials?
I’m not going to say any excuses or anything, I just was off today. Day one was a little bit better, but I gained a lot of experience in this competition. I’m very happy to have walked away in the top two. It really is a dream come true.

On bars I had a rough warm-up and I think I was a little flustered going into my routine. I guess just from the very beginning it was a little off. Those were silly mistakes, but I guess I’m glad to get it out of the way here, and hopefully towards the end of the summer it will be perfect.

Were you really hoping to guarantee your spot tonight?
Yes. I’m really focused on my routines, but that’s kind of in the back of your mind. You still have to prove yourself at the training camp, though. So that’s what we’re gearing up towards next. That’s in three weeks, so there’s no time to celebrate. We gotta go back in the gym and work even harder because the biggest competition of our lives is coming up.

How did you feel when your name was called as an Olympian?
I looked at Shawn [Johnson] and we both had tears in our eyes. She looked at me and she was like, Can you believe it? We made it!.

I don’t think it has hit both of us yet, maybe when we wake up tomorrow thinking about it it will be a little bit more real. It felt like you were living in a dream, but when you looked around, it was real. I remember looking around here back on Monday and thinking, by the end of this week, I could be an Olympian. And now it’s here! It’s been kind of a rough year with injuries, but I’ve just had to believe in myself and tell myself that dreams do come true. That if you have a dream, and you want something bad enough, and you work really hard, it will become a reality.

Do you feel like you’re in the right place in terms of your training?
Yeah I do. Minus today -- I was definitely hoping for a little bit more out of today -- but with the end results I couldn’t be happier. So much hard work is coming up, but I think we’re ready for it.

How did you feel seeing Chellsie Memmel back in competition?
I think we really need her on the floor, especially on bars, so that is going to be really great. I think a lot of people wrote her off, and so I kinda feel her in that case, because I was kinda like that last year, and for her to come back and be as good as she was last weekend and this weekend shows she’s in a great spot right now. The team definitely needs her.

Are there others who you can talk to about the pressure leading up to the Olympics?
Yes, actually. [Swimmer] Amanda Beard texted me today. I’ve met her a few times and we have the same agent. That was really cool. She just said that she’s been in my position many times, and that it’s a hard time to go through, but it’s really exciting. She told me if I ever needed someone to vent to or just to talk to that she’s there for me. So that was really cool.

Carly [Patterson] is here. Do you two talk about her experiences?
Yes. It’s funny because before every event we always make eye contact with each other and she goes and gives me a thumbs up. That’s something cool for me because I trained with her for so long, and I’ve really missed her being in the gym. Having her here and having her support me is really great. Also, one of my other best friends, Nina Kim – who used to work out with us and now trains at the University of Utah – she’s out here too. So I feel like I have a really tight support team.

What would you like to improve on for Beijing?
Definitely bars, and then on beam I didn’t get one tenth on my A score, and floor I didn’t get one tenth, so I’ll clean up those as well.