Published by deborah.woehr on 15 Aug 2008 at 06:54 am
Liukin Wins Gold for Her Family
For some reason, I’ve always overlooked the Summer Olympics, preferring the Winter Olympics because of the beautiful figure skating and the luge. I’ve been watching this year’s Olympic games with mild interest, mainly because my husband turns it on.
One thing that caught my eye was the US gymnastics team. Rather, it was the girls and the tense looks on their faces on Monday. Bridget Sloan looked like she was going to the gallows. Chellsie Memmel had a disastrous moment when her hands accidentally slipped off the bar. Right after that, Nastia Liukin fell flat on her back. The only one who seemed unflappable was Shawn Johnson, who performed near-perfect routines without a hitch.
The girls got better as the week went on, but I was worried about Nastia, especially when I heard that her father was her coach and former Olympian. He had missed winning the gold medal by one-tenth of a point. It’s one thing to compete for yourself, yet another to have to compete for someone you hold dear. My heart went out to her because she had double the pressure.
Despite a rocky start, she won the gold yesterday. Read more about it in the article below.
