Beacon Street Girls
B*tween Productions, home of the Beacon Street Girls, recently announced that Nastia will serve as a role model on the company's new safe social networking site.
The Beacon Street Girls launched a beta version of its website modeled on a junior high earlier this summer. Tweens personalize a virtual locker, safely "friend" the Beacon Street Girls characters and other Club BSG members from around the world. One of the unique aspects of the site is the ability to friend celebrities and real-life role models.
Nastia has her own locker, where Club BSG friends leave messages on her whiteboard and catch up with her in the Club BSG Gymnastics Team. Check out her locker here.
"Club BSG is important to how I connect with my fans," said Nastia. "I appreciate all the encouragement and love reading the notes girls leave on my Club BSG whiteboard. Plus, through the Gymnastics Team on the site, I have the ability to reach even more girls than ever before! On the site, we will be talking about self-esteem and staying fit through positive life choices."
"It's exciting to have Nastia take an active role in our community," said Addie Swartz, CEO of B*tween Productions. "A role model for young women everywhere, Nastia demonstrates that it is important to always try your best, and maintain your composure under pressure. Her accomplishments are extraordinary, and we hope that girls will emulate her positive attitude. She is the embodiment of good sportsmanship."
New York, New York
Following the opening show of The Tour of Gymnastics Superstars on Sunday in Reno Nastia travelled to New York for a number of interviews and appearances. On Monday she joined Maria Sharapova at MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK sitting in the front row at the Peter Som show. "It's such an honor to be here. I've never been to anything like this" she said of the experience. Since being in the Big Apple Nastia has appeared on both Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The View. She has also been invited alongside her father to ring the Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange at 4.00pm on Tuesday.
Lastly, Nastia's appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show aired on Monday. Nastia has sent some personal pictures from her trip to Chicago!
"Supergirl" for a Cure Support the Susan G. Komen Foundation
In celebration of Nastia’s Olympic success, Saving Jane is releasing a commemorative version of "Supergirl" available for download on Amazon. Nastia & Saving Jane have chosen Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the global leader in the breast cancer movement, as the beneficiary of 10% of the special edition songs’ sales. Supergirl is all about girl power and Nastia wants to support an organization that promotes healthy living and equal access to medical care for all women.
About The Susan G. Komen Foundation
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, the foundation has invested nearly $1 billion to fulfill that promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world.
Click on the album to the right or the banner below to visit Amazon.com, download the commemorative release of Supergirl and in the process support the work of the Susan G Koem Foundation. For more information about Saving Jane visit myspace.com/savingjane and for more information on breast health or breast cancer, visit komen.org.
For further inquiries about this partnership contact:
Stacey Stoddard
Director of Toucan Cove Entertainment New Media & Promotions
(714) 913-5587 stacey@toucancove.com
Smart Girls Rock Vanilla Star Campaign Launch
Vanilla Star Jeans, one of the top denim brands for kids and juniors is sending a back-to-school message that Smart Girls Rock and they can live whatever dreams they envision.
With much praise from Vanilla Star's customer base and the retail success of the "Smart Girls Rock" ad campaign, Vanilla Star dropped the second series of the print campaign featuring U.S. Olympic gymnast, Nastia Liukin on Friday, August 29th in national magazines, buses, kiosks and billboards in New York and Los Angeles. The unveiling of the new ad took place at Parsons School of Design, located at 560 Seventh Avenue in New York City .
The juxtaposition of sport and fashion unites Vanilla Star’s customer base nationally and globally. Vanilla Star tapped Nastia as a global ambassador for the "Smart Girls Rock" campaign because she exemplifies a young woman living her dreams in a high profile and high pressure field while remaining true to herself as role model for young women.
“We love that Nastia is the perfect fit for Vanilla Star like our jeans are for her,” says Sandeep Behl, Vanilla Star’s CEO, “The grace and class she continues to demonstrate in her performances and in her attitude are a great representation of the values that Vanilla Star stands for.”
“I am really excited to be a part of Vanilla Star’s ‘Smart Girls Rock’ ad campaign,” says Nastia. “I know what it is like to have a dream in your mind and work as hard as you can to achieve it. I’m just happy I can encourage others to do the same.”
“Vanilla Star is proud to embrace an ‘anti-jean’ company philosophy by opposing the trend of exploiting young teens’ bodies in its ads. We always try to find personalities that our core Vanilla Star customer is attracted to and will set a good example for today’s impressionable youth market,” says Vanilla Star’s President, Mark Levy. “We feel that Nastia is special, not only for her amazing skills but as a role model and inspiration to young generations. She’s truly living the dream.”
Nastia Liukin has taken the "Smart Girls Rock" message to the global stage as a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team. Nastia leaves Beijing with five medals including one gold, three silvers and one bronze, becoming the third American woman to tie the U.S. record. Her Olympic medal haul bests that of her father, Valeri, who "only" has four. Nastia is a four time World Champion. Nastia's other accolades include: nine-time World medalist, four time US National Champion and has won multiple Pacific Rim and American Cup titles. In 2005 she was named Gymnast of the Year by the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame and was a nominee in both the World Top 10 Athletes Award and the U.S. Sport's Academy Athlete of the Year Award.
In addition to Vanilla Star, Nastia is sponsored by many major brand names including AT&T, Visa, Adidas, Covergirl and Wheaties, where she will appear on cereal box covers.
Vanilla Star has set its sights on celebrating the positive attributes of young women by allowing them to "live their dream" through the Live The Dream Scholarship, awarded annually to young women to pursue their dreams in academics, fashion, sport and entertainment. Nastia has designed signature T-shirts to promote the campaign with proceeds going to the Vanilla Star Live The Dream Scholarship, sold exclusively on Vanilla Star’s official Web site www.vanillastarjeans.com.
The website also launched behind-the-scenes video from Nastia’s Vanilla Star photo shoot, along with her exclusive interview at midnight on Thursday, August 28th.
Vanilla Star Jeans is an international company founded in 2002 and based in New York City . Since then, it has quickly become the jean leader for junior and girls in the U.S. , sold at all major department and specialty stores throughout the nation.
Wheaties has announced that Nastia and decathlete Bryan Clay will be featured on special-edition Wheaties packages. Nastia joins Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson and the "Magnificant 7" (Amanda Borden, Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Jaycie Phelps and Kerri Strug) as the only gymnasts to receive this honor. The soon-to-be-released packages will be available nationally beginning in September, continuing Wheaties' tradition of honoring great American champions dating back to Johnny Weismuller and Babe Didrikson in the 1930s. "Every young athlete aspires to one day see their face on the cover of the Wheaties box. It's been a huge inspiration to see great gymnastics champions on the box, like Mary Lou and Carly, plus the 'Magnificent Seven' from 1996. It's a privilege and an honor for me to be on the box, and I'm very excited to be part of the Wheaties tradition.". Learn more about Wheaties' history and featured athletes on the brand's recently updated website at WHEATIES.COM.
We hope that you all caught Nastia's appearance on The Late Show with Jay Leno on Tuesday night. If you missed it, a video of her interview has been posted on youtube.com. Nastia also posted the photo on the right with Jay on her Official Myspace Profile alongside a number of other personal pictures from the Olympics and her time in Los Angeles. We have posted them in Nastia's photo album for those fans who are not members of Myspace.
In other exciting news, Nastia is one of 10 women nominated for the Women’s Sports Foundation’s 2008 Sportswoman of the Year. Fans can vote for Nastia through midnight, Sept. 2, on the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Web site. The winner will be presented at the Annual Salute to Women in Sports Dinner on Oct. 14 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.
Athletes were considered for their athletic achievements from Aug. 1, 2007, through Aug. 24, 2008. The other nine women who were nominated are: Mao Asada, figure skating; Veronica Campbell-Brown, track; Natalie Coughlin, swimming; Ashley Fiolek, motocross; Allison Fisher, billiards; Yelena Isinbayeva, pole vault; Lorena Ochoa, golf; Lindsey Vonn, downhill skiing; and Rebecca Ward, fencing.
Nastia will return home to Texas on Friday for some media engagements (CBS 11 Morning Show, 99.5 Wake Up With The Wolf Show - Host Paul, Lisa, Chris, 103.7 FM with Gene & Julie, Kidd Kraddick in the Morning, U. Magazine interview, KLLI 105.3 with Ben & Skin, WFAA The Gordon Keith TV Show, KTXA Channel 21, MIX 102.9) and of course for her welcome home parade in Parker on Saturday. The parade, that will include Nastia and her family, horses, fire engines, the Plano East High School Marching Band, as well as many public officials from North Texas, including Parker Mayor Cordina, and the Parker City Council, starts and ends at Victory Church kicking off at 9.00am. It is expected that the parade will run for approximately two hours. Full event information (including a map of the parade route and parking information) can be accessed on the City of Parker Website.
Nastia begins rehearsals for the World Tour of Gymnastics Superstars on Monday. Be sure to book your tickets now! She is also looking forward to a trip to New York where, amongst other appearances, she is headed to New York Fashion Week. Nastia will be attending the Peter Som show and a party with one of her sporting heros, Maria Sharapova. Finally Nastia is heading to The Oprah Winfrey Show. She will be appearing in the season opener airing on September 8!
As promised, WOGA and Alford Media have posted a number of videos from Nastia's celebration in Frisco last week for fans who were unable to attend in person to enjoy. Click here to visit the playlist and see the speeches made by Nastia, Valeri and Anna Liukin, Carly Patterson and Evgeny Marchenko at the event as well as slideshows for both Nastia and Carly Patterson.
WOGA Celebrates WOGA and Texas Honor Nast
Nastia was honored by more than 800 people at private celebration hosted by WOGA in Frisco on Saturday. Family, friends, teammates, sponsors and other supporters in Texas were all on hand to congratulate Nastia for her achievements in Beijing. A team from Dallas News were on hand to take portraits of Nastia, her father Valeri and fellow WOGA gymnast and 2004 Olympic Champion Carly Patterson. We will be posting a highlights video from the night as well as the slideshow that was played during the evening on Nastia website so her fans can enjoy the event as well.
Amongst the many special presentations made to Nastia at the party was the first and only world's biggest pink gummi bear. Mike Ellsworth (a parent of one of Nastia's teammates) was channel surfing while watching the Olympics and came across a story on the Food channel regarding the World’s Largest Gummi Bear maker. Knowing Nastia’s favorite candy is the Gummi Bear, he made contact with candyship.com who make the Gummi Bears to explain about the upcoming WOGA celebration. Mike Horowitz (from candyship.com) made contact the next day and was so excited as he is a huge fan and had already started experimenting with making the first and only pink world’s largest gummi bear. Mike had the item over nighted to Mike Ellsworth so that Cailee, Shay, Christa, Catherine, Mykle, Emily, Rebecca and Brittany (Nastia’s Team) could present it to her at the celebration. As you can see from the photo, Nastia was really excited to receive this unique gift! Click here to view more photos of Nastia receiving her special 4 pound sweet pink treat! Also included in the gallery are the portraits taken by Dallas News. Look out for many more photographs (and of course the videos) from the party soon!
Nastia is back on the road again, this time in Los Angeles for a number of appearances and photo shoots. On her schedule today was photo shoots for Wheaties and Cosmo Girl as well as meet and greets at both InStyle Magazine and People Magazine. Tomorrow she will be appearing on Ryan Seacrest's Morning Show (102.7 KIIS FM) which will air twice in LA before being broadcast on 40 stations nationally, the Billy Bush Radio Show and will be taping her appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She will also be taping a segment for an upcoming episode of the award-winning children's news series called Nick News entitled "How I Spent My Summer Vacation!".
Welcome Nastia Home Airport Arrival Celebration
Nastia arrived safely back in the US yesterday to a rousing reception from friends, family and fans at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. The United Airlines jet she arrived in was doused as part of a water-cannon salute - courtesy of two fire engines. On hand to celebrate Nastia's achievements was good friend and 2004 Olympic All Around Champion Carly Patterson. Nastia, Carly and her Mom and Dad held a press conference before Nastia and her family departed for home. Her arrival was broadcast live on NBCOlympics.com. Click here to view their coverage of the reception. We have also posted a number of photographs from the reception courtesy of Stefano Riznyk.
Celebrations for Nastia continue today with WOGA hosting a private function in her honor. The public will have their chance to celebrate her success with a parade through Parker, TX. Originally scheduled for August 23, the parade was has been postponed until August 30 due to bad weather in the area. Full details about the parade (including the route) will be posted on Nastia's website soon.
In other news, Nastia and Shawn Johnson are on the cover of US weekly. The article in the magazine details the triumphs and struggles of Nastia and her teammates in Beijing. A preview of the cover can be seen on the right.
Finally, we have sadly been forced to close Nastia's guestbook indefinitely following repeated abuse by a number of visitors to her website. We are currently seeking a new script to manage her guestbook with that will allow for increased moderation and thereby protection for Nastia and visitors to her website. In the meantime her Official Myspace remains open. Please note that you will need to send a friend request in order to post a comment on her profile. If you have already sent a message but it has not yet appeared on her profile, do not resend your message. Nastia has received many thousands of messages since the Olympic began and we are still working to process them all. We thank you for your patience.
Welcome Nastia Home Airport Arrival Celebration
Nastia is arriving home from the Olympic Games on Thursday 21 August. Be on hand to welcome her home at the airport arrival celebration.
When: Thursday 21 August Where: DFW Airport, Terminal B, Gate B 35 Time: from 4:00pm (Nastia is due to arrive at approx 4:15pm)
Members of the general public are advised that they should gather at Terminal B, Gate B 35. Please note that parking is not free. Allow approximately $6.00.
Nastia will also be honoured in a parade in Parker, TX on Saturday 23 August. More information about this event will be available soon.
Silver Makes Five Into The Record Books
Congratulations Nastia - 2008 Olympic Balance Beam Silver Medalist! Nastia earned her fifth Olympic medal, a silver in the balance beam final this evening. This performance equals Shannon Miller's 1992 record medal haul (Miller won 2 silver and 3 bronze medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics) and also means that Nastia now has one more Olympic medal than her father Valeri. She has often joked that she hoped to return from Beijing with more medals than her father earned 20 years ago at the 1988 Seoul Games. Nastia's olympic campaign came to a close with a fantastic routine earning a score of 16.025 (6.6 A Score). Teammate Shawn Johnson took gold (16.225 / 7.0 A Score) with hometown favorite Cheng Fei taking the bronze (15.950 / 6.8 A Score). Congratulations Nastia!
Nastia will make her final appearance at the National Indoor Stadium tomorrow when she will join the other medalists in the traditional Gymnastics Gala. The Gala provides the opportunity for all of the athletes to let their hair down and celebrate their achievements at the Games for fans of the sport throughout the world.
Tie In The Family Silver on Bars Makes Four
Congratulations Nastia - 2008 Olympic Uneven Bars Silver Medalist! Competition has just concluded in the uneven bars final in Beijing with Nastia earning her fourth Olympic medal, a silver, to tie her father's haul from the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Nastia and co-favorite He Kexin (China) were drawn to compete second and first respectively in the final. Both gymnasts hit their routines, Nastia with a stuck dismount, and both were awarded the identical score 16.725 (7.7 A Score / 9.025 B score). Despite this, due to an FIG tiebreak rule, Nastia was relegated to the silver medal position. Yang Yilin, bronze medalist from the all around, added another individual bronze medal to her collection earning a score of 16.650 (7.7 A Score) just ahead of Great Britain's Beth Tweddle who despite having the highest A score (7.8) fell behind in the execution to miss a medal by 0.025. Congratulations Nastia! Nastia will make her final appearance in competition tomorrow when she contests the balance beam final. Good luck Nast!
Olympic Champion Gold in the All Around
Congratulations Nastia - 2008 Olympic All Around Champion! It has been a magical few days for Nastia in Beijing winning a medal of every color! On Wednesday she competed on three events in team finals - including a meet high 16.900 (7.7 A score) on uneven bars - to help the team to a silver medal. The US women lead after the first rotation but the Chinese came back strongly on the uneven bars to take a lead which they retained throughout the rest of the competition. Romania snatched the bronze ahead of the team from Russia.
With both gymnasts performing at their best, the much anticipated contest between Nastia and her teammate Shawn for the Olympic All Around title did not disappoint. Nastia's began her competition with a stuck yurchenko 1.5 earning a 15.035 (5.5 A score). She followed this with her two highest scores of the final, a 16.650 (7.7 A Score) on uneven bars and 16.125 (6.6 A Score) on balance beam and a strong performance on floor exercise (15.525 / A Score) to win the gold medal by more than half a point (63.325). "Standing on the podium and hearing `Olympic champion' next to my name was a dream come true. Everything pays off at this very moment." The victory made all the more special because she was able to share it with her father, who 20 years ago missed winning the same title by 0.1. "Just to know that he was so close to (the all-around gold) and didn't quite achieve it ... I hope, you know, I cleared away any of those bad little memories for him. I hope that this definitely tops it. I have a few more to go, but it is an amazing accomplishment just to be here with him, out on the floor 20 years after he competed. I think it just means so much more to both of us. I don't know, just all the hard work paying off. All the injuries, tears, blood, rips — everything." And from Valeri, "It's not possible to describe how proud I am ... I'm very proud of my baby."
Nastia kicked off her event final campaign tonight by taking a bronze medal (she now has a complete 'set') in the floor exercise final. Many expected that she might falter, overcome following her all around success, but Nastia produced her best floor routine of the Olympics to score a 15.425 (6.2 A Score). Romania's Sandra Izbasa took gold (15.650 / 6.5 A Score) ahead of Shawn Johnson (15.500 / 6.4 A Score). Nastia will compete in the uneven bars final on Monday and close her Olympic campaign on Tuesday with the beam final. Congratulations on your success so far Nastia and good luck in the coming finals!
We are sorry that we have been unable to update Nastia's website until today. Following her success in the all around final the website received unprecedented traffic and crashed the server that it is hosted on. We worked tirelessly with our hosts to get the website live again, now on its very own server. Thank you to Dreamhost for going above and beyond to assist us in the last week.
Five Finals for Nastia News From Qualification Nastia and her teammates overcame a late injury to Samantha Peszek in their warm up to finish second as a team and move into Wednesday's team final following the qualification round held in Beijing today. Peszek was expected to compete on four events but injured her knee during the final warm up and was limited to only uneven bars. This meant that the US girls were only able to compete four athletes on vault, balance beam and floor exercise. Despite this late setback, the team earned the highest team totals on vault and balance beam.
Nastia competed on all four events and despite a fall on her uneven bars dismount posted the second highest all around total (62.375), less than 0.35 behind teammate Shawn Johnson. Her best scores came on balance beam (15.975 / 6.6 A Score) and uneven bars (15.950 / 7.7 A Score) however she also earned impressive scores on vault (15.100 / 5.5 A Score) - including a 9.8 from one B panel judge - and floor exercise (15.350 / 6.2 A Score). In addition to the Team Final, Nastia's performance individually qualified her to All Around, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam and Floor Exercise finals. She joins Cheng Fei (CHN) and Anna Pavlova (RUS) as the only athletes to qualify to three individual event finals. Click HERE to access full results from the preliminary round. Congratulations Nastia and Team USA! Nastia and her teammates will next compete in the Team Final on Wednesday at 11.00am! We have posted a number of photographs from qualifications!
News From Beijing Ready to go Nastia and her teammates will make their first competition appearance at the Olympic Games tommorrow when they compete in the Qualification Round from which teams and individuals will attempt to qualify into the finals. The US women are scheduled to compete in Subdivision 2 commencing at 1:30pm in Beijing and will begin their campaign on floor exercise. Good luck to Nastia and the US girls!
The team performed well in official podium training on Thursday and, as expected, look poised to be in a the gold medal fight with the team from China. Nastia will compete on all four events and will anchor the team in uneven bars. Interested fans should note that NBCOlympics.com provided a unique insight in the gymnastics events by streaming live action from podium training. An archive of Team USA's Podium Training session can be viewed on NBCOympics.com for those who missed the live feed. We have added photographs from Podium Training as well as the team's first press conference also held on Thursday.
In other news, Nastia has supported the Dallas Morning News Charities throughout 2008. The Charities help people who find themselves in need of everything from a hot meal and a warm bed to job training skills. They recently launched a number of auctions through ebay.com for autographed merchandise donated by Nastia to support their work. Currently available is an US National Team Leotard and a poster from International Gymnast both personally autography by Nastia. Show your support for the work of the Dallas Morning News charities and make a bid to win one of these fantastic collectors items! Look out for more items to be added during the Olympics. For more information about Dallas Morning News Charities, please visit their website.
Lastly Nastia will be appearing in The World Tour of Gymnastics Champions following the Olympic Games. Tickets for the tour are already available. Be sure to visit the website and book your seats now!
Supergirl Nastia's Theme Shortly before departing for Beijing, Nastia was contacted by Ohio based band Saving Jane after they heard that she had listed their latest release Supergirl as her most frequently played track on itunes. Eager to offer their support Nastia's Olympic campaign and beyond the beyond they offered Supergirl to act as the theme song for their "very favorite 'SUPERGIRL'"! Show your support for Nastia and Saving Jane by downloading a copy of Supergirl! We have set up a new page on the website to track the connection between Nastia and Saving Jane. Look out for many updates soon including the opportunity to win some great prizes from Saving Jane, Nastia and her sponsors in the "Supergirl Montage Challenge" - kicking off right after the Olympic Games! In other exciting news Nastia is pleased announce, in conjunction with gymsupply.com, the release of her online store featuring a growing range of merchandise including a new signature line of grips, wrist bands, wrist supports and the Nastia Liukin by AAI range of in-home training equipment. All items in the range feature Nastia's signature color pink as well as her autograph and logo. Also available for the first time is a 16" x 24" poster featuring images of Nastia from the 2008 American Cup. Be sure to browse the entire range in Nastia's Store or directly at gymsupply.com and place your order today.
Beijing Confirmed / Glamourous Nastia Named One of The 11 greatest bodies on earth by Glamour Magazine As you will Following a successful weekend at the Olympic Team selection camp, Nastia has proven her readiness to compete and had her position (earned at the Olympic Trials in June) on the Olympic Team confirmed. Joining Nastia on the team for Beijing are: Shawn Johnson (also named following trials), Alicia Sacramone, Chellsie Memmel, Samantha Peszek and Bridget Sloan. Also named were three alternates, Jana Bieger, Ivana Hong and Corrie Lothrop. Congratulations to all of the girls! The team will make an appearance on the Today Show this morning before heading home for a few days. The team will once again come together at the Karolyi Ranch later in the week to finalise their preparations before departing for Beijing!
In other news, Nastia was recently named one of "The 11 Greatest Bodies On Earth," by Glamour Magazine. Nastia wore a Miu Miu dress for the photoshoot and is pictured doing a double stag leap. Also featured were other Olympic hopefuls including tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams, diver Laura Wilkinson and track and field athletes Sanya Richards and Allyson Felix. A preview of the feature can be seen here.
Newlook Nastia's Website Redesigned 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.
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."
