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Nastia Liukin at Nationals. Chris McGrath/Getty Images
HARTFORD -- It was Thursday morning, the day of the women's preliminaries at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, and Nastia Liukin was feeling out of her element.
This was the first national championships in eight years that Liukin, 20, had not taken the floor as a competitor. Although still deeply involved in the sport -- at this year's nationals she worked as a commentator for NBC as well as doing a pre- and post-meet show with John Roethlisberger for Universal Sports -- Liukin is still on the fence about making a serious comeback to competitive gymnastics.
"I'll be [at the Olympics] in London either way if I compete or not, but I think if I'll be sitting in the stands knowing that if I didn't give 100 percent and I didn't try, then I might regret it, and I don't want to have any regrets," she said. "But that being said, I'm not saying 100 percent that I'll be out there."
Sunday marks the two-year anniversary of Liukin's gold medal-winning performance in Beijing, and it's been one year since she last competed in a gymnastics meet. She performed only on balance beam at the 2009 U.S. Championships in Dallas partly, she admitted, because it was in her backyard and she didn't want to disappoint local fans.
Liukin's busy summer has included her own gymnastics camp in conjunction with UCLA in Los Angeles and the launch of her clothing line, "Supergirl by Nastia" for Plano, Texas-based JC Penney, which is aimed at tween girls. In October, she'll be one of the marquee performers at the Oct. 3 Figure Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular in Allen, Texas.
To prepare for the show, Liukin will be heading back to the gym to learn some new exhibition routines on balance beam and floor exercise. Her new competition floor routine, with choreography by WOGA's Natalia Marakova and Liukin herself, has still not been revealed.
Liukin withdrew herself from the World team selection process last September, citing the need to take a break after a whirlwind year following her golden performance at the Beijing Olympics. She did eventually go to Mexico for a few days, but her schedule has remained packed, and for the first time in her life, gymnastics has come second to various opportunities.
With the media junkets for of her clothing line coming to an end for the most part this month, Liukin said she is looking forward to getting back to the gym and coming closer to a decision about whether or not she'll continue to pursue competitive gymnastics. A transcript of our conversation in Hartford is below.
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Examiner.com: It doesn't seem like you've been home much this summer. What has your road schedule been like?
Nastia Liukin: "This summer has just been so crazy with that. I'm never home much. I normally travel Wednesday and then come back Sunday and then home Monday and Tuesday. I have two more stops left, so I'm kind of looking forward to that. It's been a lot of fun and I've had fun doing it, but I'm looking forward to getting home and somewhat of like a normal schedule.
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Liukin signs autographs in the stands. Photo/Greg Long
"But it's been a lot of fun to be able to just go around and meet girls everywhere, because those are the girls that have supported me throughout my career. To be able to kind of meet all of them now becuase I didn't really have time when I was training for the Olympics. With the actual clothing line, I go to L.A. a lot because everyone's based out there and the design team and JC Penney is actually based in Plano five minutes from my house, so that makes it really cool. The headquarters are there."
Examiner.com: After the Supergirl stuff winds down a little, what are your plans?
Liukin: "I have the gymnastics and skating show in October, so getting ready for that. Been really looking forward to that, because that's going to be my first performance in a long time. So I'm really just trying to get back in the gym and get in shape for that."
Examiner.com: What events will you perform at the show?
Liukin: "We normally just have a beam and a floor for girls, so I'll probably do both."
Examiner.com: Have you been in the gym much at all?
Liukin: "Yeah, I have. Whenever I'm home I'm in the gym every day, but with the traveling obviosuly when I'm not home I'm not in the gym, so it's kind of hard. But as soon as things slow down I think towards the end of this month I'll pretty much be done with the traveling for Supergirl, and then really kind of seriously get back more in the gym! [laughs]"It's really hard, I mean even on the road I try and work out every single day, but when your morning starts at, you know, some mornings in New York and Chicago I had mornings that started at four in the morning, so it's hard to wake up at three and work out and then you don't get back until nine or ten and you're just swamped. Working out seven hours a day, it was hard, but like doing this stuff all day when you have to be like, on and smiling and stuff, that's like almost harder. I mean, it doesn't look like it, because people are just like, 'Oh, you're just sitting there, you're not doing anything physical, but it's just like, it drains your energy out a lot. It's definitely hard work, but I'm enjoying every opportunity that I get."
Examiner.com: What do you do when you work out on the road?
Liukin: "I'm running. I hate the treadmill [laughs] so I try to run outside, but if I don't know the area then I'll definitely get on the treadmill and I like just put in headphones and listen, but I also like working out, and not just to get back in shape or stay in shape or whatever. That's kind of like my only alone time to just kind of think about things...I'm not that big of a runner. Five miles. I don't really do much more than that, but I feel like that's a pretty good...I mean, gymnasts don't really do a long [run]. I'm not a marathon runner and I never will be! [laughs] Maybe a half marathon, maybe. I don't know. But five miles at once is just kind of where I'm at right now. Maybe I'll gradually go up, but conditioning, strength training. I have a trainer out in New York, so she'll actually be coming up here since it's a quick drive.
"Yeah...I mean, just, it's different because you're used to doing the usual gymnastics conditioning -- ropes, leg lifts, presses, but when you're on the road you can't do that kind of stuff, so it's just kind of been...but the past year has been good for me too, because I've been able to like, learn about myself and my body and like, what I need and finally realizing after a year that I need to put like, kind of work my day around getting in what I need, and if it is waking up at five to go work out, then that's what has to be done, because I finally figured out that my body is more important than sleeping in. Sleep is important, but at the end of the day, you feel better if you take care of your body."
Examiner.com: Has this past year been good for you just in terms of taking a year off from gymnastics?
Liukin: "Gosh, yes. It really has. Even being back here, like sometimes I'm like, gosh I wish I would have not taken a break so I could be competing, but I think that this break has been like, more beneficial than anything. Last year I was just going nonstop, basically since the Olympics. We went on tour and then I was trying to train and do all these appearances, everything at the same time. It just made it so hard to be trying to do everything at once.
"I'm the kind of person that is very goal oriented and driven. Anything I set out to do I want to give 100 percent at, but at that point I couldn't give 100 percent to everything I was doing because there was just so much on my plate. So with this clothing line that's kind of what I'm doing. I'm just focusing on that and obviously getting slowly getting back in shape and kind of move on to the next goal."
Examiner.com: Do you miss gymnastics?
Liukin: "I definitely do, yeah. I mean, every day I'm in the gym, and being here...I watched training this morning, and you're just like, you're like itching to get back out there. I don't know, it's definitely like...anytime I walk into a gym it's like home. You just feel comfortable, and no matter what's going on in my other life I guess, like my business life or anything else, any time I can walk into a gym you just forget about everything, and it's just gymnastics. I definitely thrive off of that feeling. It's been great to finally get back in the gym slowly but surely."
Examiner.com: You're asked this every time you're interviewed, but have you made a decision whether to come back or not yet?
Liukin: "I'm definitely not committed either way yet. Like I said, I'm very goal oriented and driven, but if I make a decision in my mind, I want to go for it 100 percent and I don't want to let myself down, I don't want to let anyone else down, so I'm keeping the options open right now. It's great to say that you're definitely coming back when you're not in the gym, but it is hard to come back. And I think that I'm not going to be able to say that until I'm 100 percent back in shape and I can actually do all my routines and skills and everything and then say yeah, I'm going to compete again.
"So I don't want to say until I'm at that point. I definitely am going to try, and see where it takes me. And no matter what, I know I'll always still have that accomplishment. Winning the Olympics, there's nothing greater than that, but my heart is still definitely in the sport.
Examiner.com: It's understandable how a gymnast who has trained really hard for a dozen years might want to leave, enjoy life, model, do appearances, movie premieres, design a clothing line, explore other options. Why would you come back?
Liukin: "For me gymnastics was always something I had a passion for and it was everything beyond the appearances. I was never in gymnastics for the money, for the fame, for the attention. I always did it because I had a pure love for the sport. And that's still with me today. And I think that's the only way you can do it. You can't be coming back here and training seven hours a day when you thrive off making money, or you thrive off being famous or something. So I know that is not something...it is just not possible to train seven hours a day to do that. I definitely still have goals. I definitely think there's still stuff for me to achieve out there, learn some more new skills.
"Last year I was learning a few new skills and I didn't compete them. I have a new floor routine that I want to compete. Just doing that every day for cardio, it makes me miss it even more. My choreographer is like, 'Nastia please, you have to compete this!' And I'm like, 'no pressure, no pressure...' but I don't know, there's something about this sport that just draws you back into it, no matter what. I mean, I'll be in London either way if I compete or not, but I think if I'll be sitting in the stands knowing that if I didn't give 100 percent and I didn't try, then I might regret it, and I don't want to have any regrets. But that being said, I'm not saying 100 percent that I'll be out there on the floor, because I just can't determine the future."
Examiner.com: What skills do you really want to learn?
Liukin: "There's definitely some skills on beam and bars. Bars is like the event that's like, really fun for me. Some more releases maybe, new dismount...[laughs] different stuff, I guess."
Examiner.com: And your father would be your coach?
Liukin: "Oh, gosh, absolutely. I would never ever ever think about going with a different coach. I mean, he is the reason I am who I am, as a gymnast, as a person. No other coach knows me more as a person than my dad could, and definitely knows how to get me ready for a competition, how to get me back in shape, how to do it all. And it proved at the Olympics -- I wouldn't have won if I'd had a different coach, and I truly believe that."
Examiner.com: Have you talked about the comeback process with any of your Olympic teammates?
Liukin: "Yeah, we've talked about it. And I think that last year for me it was a great experience if I do decide to come back or if I don't. Because I know now how I shouldn't do it and how I should do it. Trying to balance so many different things at once and train for the Worlds or the Olympics, it's not going to work like that. And it never did for me before the Olympics, so I definitely have to change my way of thinking and my priorities. That's all I would be doing. I would stop with the appearances, and those things that are most important. Like this clothing line, who knows if this would have come about in two more years? So something like this, yeah, I had to take this opportunity. But some other things -- movie premieres, red carpets, movies will still be coming out in two more years. There'll still be red carpets. So it's been a fun almost two years. It's definitely been a great journey, but I'm ready to kind of slow down a little bit and take some time at home and kind of figure out what I'm going to do."
Examiner.com: Who choreographed your new floor routine?
Liukin: "Natalia [Marakova]. She's done all my floor routines, ever since I was nine. I actually kind of choreographed more of this routine myself. She definitely helped me a little bit, but it was fun because I was finally at that point where I'd already accomplished what I wanted to do, and so this was kind of like, more really me. Still my style, but just a little bit different, and I was really able to put my input in there. So it was really fun."
Examiner.com: What is your music?
Liukin: "I haven't told anyone yet, so..."
Examiner.com: Sorry, had to try...
Liukin: [laughs] "No, haven't told anyone..." [giggles]
Examiner.com: Have you set a timeline for determining when you'll decide on a comeback, as Shawn did?
Liukin: "Well, I think with the skating show it's really going to help me out. That's in October, so I mean, as soon as things slow down I guess at the end of this month, I'll be in the gym all of September and October, and that'll help me decide if that's really what I want to do or not. And being here, it's kind of like that too. This is the first time since 2002 that I've never competed. Just like sitting on this side is very weird, but sometimes you have to do stuff that you don't want to do, and...[giggles]. That's like with everything in life. But make the best out of everything. So yeah, I've been enjoying some new opportunities, but I'm not crossing anything off yet."
Examiner.com: Are you still at Southern Methodist University?
Liukin: "You know, I only did one semester because I did it right after the Olympics, and I was gone more than I actually went to class, and so it made it really hard. And SMU is a private school, very strict with attendance policies and all that. So it just made it really difficult and you know, for my family, my parents, my dad, education's always been a priority. I remember in high school, I would get out of gym 30 minutes, an hour early, anything, to study for a test. Because gymnastics will only get you so far in life. But if you have that education, that's what's going to carry you on for the rest of your life. So I definitely want to go to school. I haven't decided where or when yet, but it's still on my to do list."
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