I have been waiting a long time for this. For the past two years I have been hearing about the prowess of Nastia Liukin but had yet to see her compete. I was wondering if she would live up to the hype. After winning the Junior National Championship two years in a row (2003-2004), she finally made her Senior debut at the 2005 American Cup.


Although she fell off the bars on her release move, her form and exquisite line was truly in a class of it’s own. I was expecting some phenomenal gymnastics from her so I shouldn’t have been surprised, yet she still managed to take my breath away. She possesses the truly rare combination of talent, technique, body line, and expression. She shared the gold on the Balance Beam, which I thought she should have won outright.

Having only seen her compete on Uneven Bars and Balance Beam I am left to wonder if she will end up a “two event” gymnast, similar to Hollie Vise. As a longer and leaner gymnast, does she lack the power necessary to shine on Vault and Floor as well? I have heard rumors of her ability to perform a quadruple twist on Floor which gives me hope for her as an All Arounder. Time will tell.

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