After American gymnast Nastia Liukin suffered a severe ankle injury a year before the Olympics, many thought she'd never compete again. But Nastia, daughter of two Soviet champions, was born to win. Her father Valeri, the first man to do a triple backflip, competed in the 1988 Olympics and lost the gold medal by less than 1/10th of a point. He spent the next two decades as his daughter's coach, teaching her everything he knew about gymnastics and determination. Injuring herself doubled her resolve to win, says Nastia. She came back stronger than she'd ever been and went on to win the All-Around Gold—the same event her father had lost exactly 20 years before. —Jay Dixit
What are you most proud of?
Winning the All-Around Gold at the Olympic Games this past summer.
What were you feeling after you won?
A big sigh of relief, because I did have some difficult times. I had an injury and so many people started doubting me and questioning whether I would even be on the Olympic Team. Those tough times made me even stronger. They got me to where I was last summer. Without my injury I wouldn't have been as strong, just because I tried so hard to get back into it.
When did you feel most hopeless or discouraged?
In 2006, I did have that injury. I had to get surgery on my ankle. The recovery just took so long. I'd never had a serious injury like that. I wasn't aware of what was going to come. It took longer than we planned for. That was frustrating, trying to get ready for the Olympics when I was still hurting really bad, and doing minimal training and just trying to avoid pain. Competitively, the year before the Olympics, 2007, was my worst year. Not too good to have that the year before the Olympics. But like I said, it made me stronger.
Why was that year your worst competitively? Was it because you were still not fully recovered? Or because you hadn't had time to practice after you were recovered?
I wasn't able to put in the necessary training because I was still hurt. I was in so much pain I wasn't able to train. So when I went to competitions, I wasn't physically prepared.
Was there ever a time when you had a setback and you felt like it was your own fault or you blamed yourself?
Of course the injury. The only person you can blame the injury on is yourself. That was frustrating. It was a mistake.
Did you feel like it was just chance-everyone gets injured sooner or later? Or do you feel like there was something you could have done differently and you were kicking yourself?
When I got injured, it was because of a fluke mistake. I rolled my ankle. And I guess that can be changed if you pay more attention to every single detail, but it was just one of those fluke things and it happened. At the time there was nothing I could do to prevent it.
What was going through your mind? Were you thinking, "I'll never compete again"?
No. I never had those thoughts in my head. It was the week before we left for the 2006 World Championships and I wanted to do the All-Around but I wasn't able to do it because I was injured. I wasn't able to walk for a few weeks. I was on crutches and in a boot and I was only training bars, but I was still put on the World Championship team and I competed for my country at the World Championship only on bars and helped win a silver medal. I would have loved to compete All-Around there.
What allowed you to get through those tough times and get your mental state-your confidence and assurance-back to the point where they needed to be so you could compete and win?
Surrounding myself with really great people. My dad is my coach. My mom is the support side of the team. And teammates that helped me all the time. You can't listen to the negative talk. There's always going to be some positive and some negative when you're a well-known athlete or just a person. When I first started hearing these things-that I'd never make the Olympic team because I was injured, that I wouldn't get to where I was before the injury-it really upset me. Then I thought, "Why am I even letting this get to me?" If I know I can do it and my friends and family and coaches believe in me, it doesn't matter what people on the outside are saying. They don't know my personality. They don't know I'm going to work even harder to get back to where I was.
Who was saying those things?
The media. I learned to not let the media affect you. That's their job-to criticize and talk and have opinions. At first it got to me. Then I thought, "They're not the ones doing gymnastics." I'm the one that's in it.
What is it about your personality that gives you that mindset?
That I never give up. I showed people that personality at the Olympics. I didn't give up until it was completely over. A lot of people thought it wasn't possible for me to win that All-Around Gold but I always believed in myself and I always believed it was possible. It takes a lot of different character traits. But most importantly, never to give up. That's something I learned from a very early age.
What do you think it was that taught you that?
Definitely my parents. My dad was an Olympic champion and my mom was a world champion, both in gymnastics. Just from their experiences and teaching me to continue that path and to always believe in yourself and set big dreams and goals.
When you're actually competing, are there moments when feel like you want to give up?
There are definitely some times when it does get hard, especially in competitions if you make a mistake. But that's something I learned also. There were two times in competition when I had a mistake and I had a fall and I honestly wanted to give up because I thought it would be over. And my dad, who's always on the floor with me, just kept telling me, "Don't give this up. It's still possible. Fight your way through it." I won the competition both times.
Some people, when they make a mistake, dwell on it and get discouraged. But you're able to put it behind you-you have a fall and you put it out of your mind. What's the trick?
It takes practice. To master anything, whether it's a sport or believing in yourself, doesn't come overnight. That's just the way you have to set your mind, focus, and believe that it is possible.
When you're competing, what do you think you have in your mind? Are you thinking, "I'm going to win"? "I'm not going to give up"? Or is your mind blank?
I don't think about winning going into a competition. I go in trying to do the best performance, the best routines I can. I never think about the outcome, if I'm going to win a medal or what color. That's also something I was taught from a young age-to focus on only myself. Of course you are going to have competitors, and people could be better than you or stronger than you, but as long as you're focused on yourself and you give your best performance that day, that's really all you can control.
I imagine that when you're competing it must be really important to stay present in the moment. Do you have a technique for doing that?
I use a lot of visualizations. Before I go and salute, I replay my routine over and over again in my head in the most perfect scenario, just trying to hit every skill and trying to make it right. That always helps me.
How were you able to train through pain? Was it thinking ahead to the future, like, "If I can get through this moment now, even if its painful, I can win later"?
I've always had those big goals and dreams in my head and the 2008 Olympics were always in the back of my mind. Going through difficult times, I told myself, "I've been in gymnastics 15 years, and there's only a year left until the Olympics. I might be going through a struggle now, or an injury, but I can't give this up now. I came a long way, and put so much effort and time and commitment to it already, and I've had those goals for so long." With it so close, I didn't ever really feel a need to give up. But going through the injury, you always have to take it one day at time. You can't think too far ahead of yourself.
When you talk about those goals and dreams, did those come from your parents originally or were they something you wanted for yourself?
