As you will have already noticed, Nastia's website has been completed redesigned since our last update. We really hope that you enjoy the new look and the new content on the website. Any updates made to the website will be listed below the expanded version of each news item. As with this post, some longer news items may also be truncated to allow the newsroom to load quickly. Simply click on the "Read More" icon below to expand each post and see what additions have been made to the site. We have also launched the Liukin List. Be sure to subscribe today to be the first to be informed of any changes made to Nastia's website. Please note that both the "Family" and "Desktop" pages are still under construction but will return soon. It has been a busy few days for Nastia since the tconclusion of Olympic Trials with a photoshoot for Vanilla Star Jeans and a trip to New York for her second appearance in a week on the Today Show to promote her new role (alongside Shawn Johnson and Alicia Sacramone) as spokeswomen for Covergirl. Thank you to everyone who entered Nastia's first montage challenge in May. We received many fantastic entries! Before she departed for Nationals, Nastia selected Rebecca as the first winner. Be sure to visit the montage challenge page to view her clip, find a link to our youtube playlist of all the entries and to find out who Nastia has selected as her next Featured Artist. Due to Nastia's busy schedule in the coming months, we will be accepting entries for this challenge until the end of August.
Olympian Nastia Nominated to 2008 US Olympic Team Congratulations Nastia - 2008 US Olympic Team Member! Nastia was in Philadelphia this weekend for the Olympic Trials. Following two nights of competition Nastia and Shawn Johnson earned nominations to the 2008 Olympic Team as the top two ranked all around gymnasts. Nastia was naturally overjoyed to have realised her dream of earning a nomination to the team saying “I am really ecstatic to be named to the team. I can’t believe it’s here. This is a dream come true." Although both girls will have to prove their readiness at the upcoming Olympic Team training camp in Houston, it is expected that they will lead the US team to Beijing in August. Nastia posted a new message to her family, friends and fans in Liukin In following the announcement.
Olympic Trials Begin The Road To Beijing Passes Through Philly Nastia is in Philadelphia this weekend to compete at the US Olympic Trials. The two top ranked all around gymnasts from Olympic Trials will earn nomination to the US Olympic Team. Nastia is currently in second place after competing four solid routines highlighted by a floor routine described by Inside Gymnastics during their online coverage from the arena as "gorgeous ... very inspired". She was pleased with her competition overall but admitted that looking at each individual event, there were many tenths to be earned with further refinement to her routines. Competition continues on Sunday and NBC will provide a live broadcast of the competition as well as the announcement of the first two members of the team.
VISA Championships Conclude Nastia wins two National titles Congratulations Nastia - 2008 National All Around Silver Medalist, Balance Beam Champion and Uneven Bars Champion. The VISA Championships concluded this afternoon in Boston and Nastia performed extremely well earning three new career best scores, all around (64.200), uneven bars (17.100) and floor exercise (15.850). Despite 'winning' the second night of competition and closing the gap between Shawn Johnson (leader following the preliminary round), Nastia finished the competition in second place. Nastia continued to break US records with her uneven bars routine, extending the highest recorded American individual event score by 0.050. She was also the best performer on balance beam. This performance qualified has qualified Nastia to the Olympic Team Trials in Philadelphia in mid-June.
Record Breaker and Speed Racer? Nastia earns new high score on uneven bars .. and is set to make an "appearance" in Nascar Nastia is currently in Boston for the 2008 VISA Championships. It was a mixture of highs and lows for Nastia in the preliminary round. After falling on her first event, floor exercise, she stormed home to earn the highest scores on both uneven bars (17.050 / 7.7 A score) and balance beam (16.100 / 6.6 A score). Nastia's score on uneven bars is not only a career best but is also the highest score earned by any American gymnast and any event since the introduction of the opening ended scoring system in 2006. In the all around Nastia is currently in second place behind Shawn Johnson with Chellsie Memmel third.
In other exciting news out of Boston, AT&T has debuted an Olympic-Themed NASCAR Chevrolet featuring Nastia and Michael Phelps. NASCAR Cup Series veteran Jeff Burton will circle the Pocono Raceway on August 3 in a paint scheme featuring the AT&T USA five-ring logo and images of U.S. Olympic Team hopefuls to promote excitement for the 2008 Olympic Games and support for Team USA. Nastia described being being featured on the car as "an amazing honor ... to know that we have great support from fans, AT&T and the AT&T Racing team as we prepare for the Olympic Games. The new paint scheme looks awesome."
