Russian Born US Gymnast Wins Olympic Gold

Russian born U.S. citizen, Nastia Liukin won the Olympic gold medal for the United States in the women’s gymnastics all-around event.  Both Liukin’s parents are former gymnasts from the Soviet Union.  Her mother, Anna Kotchneva, was a world champion rhythmic gymnast and her father, who is also Nastia’s coach, is Valeri Liukin, a 1988 Olympic gold medal gymnast for the Soviet Union.  Nastia, 18, is a naturalized U.S. citizen who came to the United States at the age of 2 ½ from Russia with her parents who were hoping to make a better life in the United States.  Valeri was excited about his daughter’s win for the US, “I love America,” Valeri said, “America gave me many opportunities. We love Russia very much, but we’re proud to represent the USA.”

            In second place was fellow American gymnast, Shawn Johnson.  Johnson’s coach, Liang Chow, a US citizen, immigrated to the US from China.  Chow was a former Chinese National World Team Co-Captain and won a bronze medal at the 1984 World Championship. He holds over 30 International Gold Medals and numerous National Championships.