A Dream Come True
It is the first day of the individual all-around competition at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. No one really expects her to take the gold—maybe the bronze, maybe the silver, but certainly not the gold medal. It doesn’t matter that her father was an artistic gymnastics Olympic champion. It doesn’t matter that her mother was the world champion for rhythmic gymnastics. It doesn’t matter that she has trained 30+ hours for the past few years to hone and perfect it skills. It doesn’t matter how well she has done at practice, or at previous meets. It all comes down to her and how she performs today.
She will soon become known as one of the best gymnasts in the world. She takes away the all-around gold medal for individual competition. Her team takes silver for the team finals. She ends up winning 5 medals at the Olympics that year. With her fifth Beijing medal, she tied Mary Lou Retton and Shannon Miller for the most gymnastics medals won by an American in a single Olympic Games. Who am I talking about? Nastia Liukin, one of the most celebrated gymnasts in the history of the sport.
She will soon become known as one of the best gymnasts in the world. She takes away the all-around gold medal for individual competition. Her team takes silver for the team finals. She ends up winning 5 medals at the Olympics that year. With her fifth Beijing medal, she tied Mary Lou Retton and Shannon Miller for the most gymnastics medals won by an American in a single Olympic Games. Who am I talking about? Nastia Liukin, one of the most celebrated gymnasts in the history of the sport.