Nastia has been nominated in two catagories in 2009 ESPY Awards - Best Female Athlete & Best US Female Olympian. The ESPYS are the one night each year where athletes from all sports join together to celebrate the best moments of the year. The awards ceremoney will take place on Wednesday, `5 July at the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles and will be hosted by Samuel L. Jackson. Fans will determine the winners in 37 categories through online and mobile phone voting that begins today (25 June) and runs through July 11. Be sure to visit ESPYS.TV to support Nastia’s nominations! More information to follow!
Inside Gymnastics has revealed that Nastia will grace her third straight 50 Most Photogenic cover. For the annual issue the Inside Gymnastics editorial team review the literally tens of thousands of images from competition and training taken by the magazines photographers each season and select the best photographs to showcase a year in the sport. Editor Chris Korotky explains, “>“In a sport like gymnastics that requires grace, power, amplitude and precision for an athlete to make his or her mark, a photograph has the ability to capture a moment like no other. Gymnastics is a beautiful sport that proves the old adage: A picture is worth a thousand words. From technical precision and stunning beauty to the drama and emotion of the sport, an image can speak volumes.” Among the others included in the issue are 2006 cover girl Anna Pavlova, U.S. standouts Mattie Larson and Samantha Shapiro, Olympic alternate-turned-star Alexander “Sasha” Artemev, Olympic gold medalist and Dancing with the Stars Champ Shawn Johnson, and World gold medalists Ivana Hong and Shayla Worley. For their outstanding performance as a team, each member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic gymnastics team also earned an “automatic berth” into the edition. The issue will be hit stands later this month.
Check out the Nastia’s interview with MySpace Celebrity! If you haven’t already added Nastia as your friend, be sure to check out her official profile!
Nastia is currently in Mexico performing in three exhibitions alongside Olympic teammate Joseph Hagerty and many other fantastic gymnasts. In an article, “Nastia Liukin Stays Focussed on Competing” - recently published in the LA Times she explains why she put gymnastics ahead of an opportunity to appear on the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars and what her hopes are for the upcoming season. Be sure to check it out.
Nastia was in Springfield, Missouri this weekend for a performance at the Missouri Winter Games at the Expo Center. During her visit she also visited the Pedeatric Unit at Cox South Medical Centre. Click here to see video news report from KY3 about her visit. Be sure to read this great article published recently in the LA Times “Gymnastics not yet out of fashion for Liukin” in which Nastia talks about getting back into training, starting college, a desire to return to competition and her recent exciting steps into the fashion industry.
GK Elite Sportswear has launched a New Gymnastics Leotards Collection designed in association with Nastia. This highly anticipated new Signatiure Series features 6 striking new leotards. Nastia’s first signature Leotard line is available from GK Elite and authorized gymnastics retailers. “Each garment has been inspired by something near and dear to me. Some represent my achievements in Beijing. Others represent my desire to inspire every gymnast who wears them to always give their sport their very best efforts. With 100% effort, you can always be proud of your accomplishments. I hope you enjoy this first collection in the new Nastia Liukin Signature Series.”
You can see Nastia’s new leotards at GK’s Website http://www.gkelite.com/Nastia.html
GK is the world’s leading supplier of gymnastics apparel and is recognized around the world for superior variety, quality, fit and service. GK is proud to have been chosen by adidas® to manufacture the US National Team Competitive apparel for USA Gymnastics since 2000 and is the sole producer of adidas® brand gymnastics apparel in the USA. Based in Reading, Pennsylvania, Elite Sportswear, L.P., the company behind the GK brand, continues its commitment to American-made quality and continuous innovation in designs for Gymnastics, Cheerleading, Dance, and Drill Team apparel. For more information about GK visit http://www.gk-elitesportswear.com or contact Kelly Christman at 610-921-1469.
DENVER (AP) — The star treatment is great, and anyone who wins an Olympic gold medal in gymnastics should revel in her fair share of that.
What Nastia Liukin really wants, though, is to get back in the gym.
She’s thinking about London — world championships this year and, yes, maybe even the Olympics in 2012. “I mean, you know, why not?” Liukin said of the possibility of defending her all-around gold medal four years from now.
Though it hasn’t happened in a while, it’s not unheard of for an Olympic champion to try for a repeat. Most notably, Nadia Comaneci came back after her history-making, perfect-10 performance in Montreal. She finished second in Moscow. Liukin is 19 — not a great age for most woman gymnasts to be thinking about a four-year extension. But she’s also tall (5-foot-3 is considered tall for gymnasts) and lithe, probably not as susceptible to changes in her physique that might derail her skills. Her mother, Anna, is a former rhythmic gymnastics champion who looks like she could still compete today. “The most important part is my health,” said Liukin, slowed by an ankle injury in 2007 that affected her preparation for Beijing. “Besides that, I’ve been thinking about it and gymnastics is, like, my life. All the time I’ve had off from it, I’m ready to get home and get in the gym.” Back home in Dallas, she will enroll at SMU, where she plans to take a limited course load so she can free up time to resume her training. The next U.S. team training camp is set for Jan. 25 and Liukin plans on being there. READ MORE
Nastia’s partnership with BCBGMAXAZRIA was featured on Style Watch on People.com on 8 January. Be sure to visit their website to see even more pictures from the upcoming campaign.
After winning a gold medal in the 2008 Bejing Summer Olympics, Nastia Liukin has become a fixture on the fashion scene. From front row seats at New York Fashion Week to collaborating with Vanilla Star Jeans for a junior girls’ clothing line to guest starring on Gossip Girl, the teen gymnast is leaving her mark on the fashion world– and now, there are the pictures o prove it! Debuting in her first high-fashion campaign, Nastia poses for dance-inspired photos for Max Azria, the runway line under the BCBGMAXAZRIA brand. “For the Max Azria campaign, we wanted someone iconic –- someone timeless. We met Nastia at our runway show, and she was everything we were looking for. The Spring collection was inspired by movement and Modern Dance; she was perfect. It was meant to be, and the magic just sort of happened,” says Lubov Azria, Creative Director BCBGMAXAZRIA. Nastia’s pictures will be used for a image book, in-store imagery and online us. We will be watching for Nastia to reclaim her front row status this Fashion Week begining February 13. Tell us: What do you think of Nastia modeling for Max Azria? Source: People.com
