Nastia Liukin held a press conference this afternoon to talk more about her decision to opt out of worlds:
"After thinking about this for quite awhile now I sat down with my parents and decided...that time was running out. I knew that I didn't want to go out there and compete and represent team USA...if I wasn't at my best. And my best is to be able to go out there and compete for gold medals. I knew that at this point in my career I was not capable of doing that."
Liukin also mentioned that she will be taking a break from gymnastics. "This is by no means a retirement or the end of my career," she said, "It just means that I am taking some time off to rest my mind -- taking a break that I haven't really had since the Olympics."
She didn't specify when she'd like to resume training, stating, "When I feel ready to come back I’ll be back in the gym." Later, she added, "This decision has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of my career. It’s based on just this year."
It seems to me that a complete retirement isn't out of the realm of possibility, though. At one point she said, "No matter what I decide, my heart is going to be in gymnastics for the rest of my life no matter how many more years I compete for."
And her agent, Evan Morgenstein, talked about how this break will give Liukin more time to pursue new opportunities, including the Nastia Liukin Cup and Nastia Liukin Foundation. He also said, "The one thing [Nastia] and her family didn't want anyone to think was that they were just leaving the sport, and that's just so untrue when it's in your blood like it's in their blood. It's part of who you are."
My fingers are crossed that it will just be a short break, and that Liukin will come back stronger than ever in 2010. I think her presence is great for the sport.
(Pictured above: Nastia Liukin; © Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)
Comments
Yeah this does seem like it could be the opening salvo toward retirement…if she felt she wasn’t ready, wouldn’t that mean she should be spending more time in the gym, not less? How does she ever get back up to the level if she’s taking more time off? No animosity here in her decision though…she’s a great icon for the sport, would just love to see her solidify her legacy as country’s best female gymnast ever…
She did not deserve to make the World team PERIOD. What she did at Classics Nationals was not enough. She couldn’t get through a whole bar set which is why she chose to take the year off.
It’s hard to come back to a sport when you take off 6 months. She got her AA Gold medal and her over scoring is bad for the sport. Her cast to handstands and giants should have killed her B score last year but the judges ignored them for the most part. I won’t even go into her floor routine with her missed dance that should have been deducted but wasn’t.
I heard her dad made told her to make a decision to train full time or take the time off because what you are doing now is not working.
Haha, dd, if Nastia was overscored last year, then everyone else was WAY overscored. You are probably just another Shawn Johnson fan who is so upset Shawn is retired that you are picking on Nastia.
“Her cast to handstands and giants should have killed her B score last year but the judges ignored them for the most part. I won’t even go into her floor routine with her missed dance that should have been deducted but wasn’t.”
uhhh. what? Yes, you can deduct a ton (which the judges have never really done, especially in 2006) on Nastia’s giants, but her kip-cast-handstands are some of the best in the world. Perhaps you are referring to the slight gap in between her shins, but almost all gymnasts do this. She goes right up into the handstand in a nice crisp motion and doesn’t always have to straddle her legs to get there (ex: Tweddle’s KCH are horrendous).
And the missed dance? I don’t see that.
I understand that the judges overlook Nastia’s mistakes and that can be very irritating. But I think any gymnastics fan would at least realize that she really is where this sport should be. Her, Anna Pavlova and the likes are some of the only reasons why I watch this sport still. Overscored or not- Nastia deserved every medal she has ever recieved/earned.
I am not a shawn fan either. I am a gymnastics fan or I was until this mess started winning.
As for dance Nastia did not keep her leg up double turn on floor and she should have lost the bonus for that move.
If you do not see all her leg separations on her cast to handstand or pirouttes or her giants then you seriously need glasses. Not to sound rude but there are so many mistakes in that routine especially her giants that no one admits too. It is just crazy.
i think nastia deservs some time off. she hasent had a long time off ever since the olymipics. i would want some time off to.
DD, Nastia deserved her wins, so get over it.
DD get over it. You sound like one of those anti-American gymnastic fans who think only people from Russia, China or Europe (or elsewhere) deserve to win, and that if an American DOES win, it’s a result of rigging, bias, etc. You just can’t handle the fact that Americans are now a dominant force in gymnastics. Wake up.
WELL.. IM A GYMNAST AND I DONT KNOW WHAT U GUYS ARE TALKING ABOUT BUT… I SAW HER PERFORMANCE IT WAS A LITTLE EGGY BUT GIVE HER A BRAKE I MEAN SHE WORKS SO HARD, I WANT YOU GUYS TO DO BACK HANDSPRING TUCK INTO A SPLIT AND LAND IT PERFECTLY (YOU DO THAT DD) THATS WHAT SHE CAN DO! SO LAY OFF!
It’s obvious that none of you have a clue about the sport of gymnastics.
Call me names if you like but I am right about the sport.
Nastia is overrated and her form is a mess and if she was deducted fairly she would not have been the AA gold medalist
DD- who should have been the gold medalist then?
Shawn? She had built-in mistakes that the judges finally took deductions for.
YYL? She had wobbles and was grossly overscored on beam.
Maybe Ksenia?
I think the right gymnast won on that night.
this kind of makes me nervous even though she says she will be back, but i think it is a really good decision because after all the touring then training again for nationals this past august she has to be tired plus all the coaching and appearences i dont blame her i just hope when she does come back she doesnt become injury prone… i love nastia liukin she is such an inspiration and such a nice person and buy the way i love her new beam combonation the switchleap half right into the woof jump(love it)
DD, if you say Nastia was overscored, you need to have a serious look at the scores Shawn was given on the floor at the 2008 US Nationals, 16.050 and 16.200, I don’t quite think so, when her B score was 6.4, that’s 0.2, rediculous inflation on them scores. As for Nastia on bars, her 2008 night one score was correct, but in the second night she does have a deep squate on the landing, but her Pak was better. As for floor, how can you even begin to nit-pick at Nastia’s routine? Shawn’s jumps and leaps were inadiquate, Nastia performed with grace and artistry (artistic gymnastics). I believe Shawn is an exceptional gymnast, but Nastia was better than her in the Olympic All-around, if you knew so much about gymnastics, then you’d be an F.I.G judge, or have a heigh status within the gymnastics world.