As I write this, I’m sitting at my media position of the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, having just witnessed history in the making. Never have two American gymnasts shared the victory podium for the Olympic All-Around Competition. Nastia Liukin, after having finished in 2nd place twice at the World Championships, finally earned the title of World’s Greatest Gymnast as she narrowly defeated her friend, teammate, and defending World Champion, Shawn Johnson, to win the All-Around Gold Medal. I interviewed Nastia for NBC and Westwood One Radio. She said it was very difficult to believe the words “Olympic Champion” would now forever be associated with her name. Her father and coach, Valeri Liukin, while competing for the Soviet Union took the silver in the All-Around, barely missing the gold, in the 1988 Olympics. (He won two gold and two silver medals in those Olympics). Now his daughter is golden. So far, I’ve spent over a week, speaking at, and hosting corporate events, broadcasting gymnastics, and watching various competitions, and this moment was the highlight for me thus far. My friends at USA Gymnastics and I could not hold back the tears, when we saw the two American flags raised to honor these amazing athletes.
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