Nastia Liukin was 18 years old when she took home a gold medal and four other medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and etched her name into the Team USA history books.
Looking back on her lone run at the Olympics, Liukin told Fox News Digital in a recent interview that wearing the stars and stripes was “eye-opening in so many different ways.”
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Nastia Liukin of the United States, winner of one gold medal, three silver medals and one bronze medal in artistic gymnastics at the Beijing Olympic Games, poses at Prince Yun Palace on Aug. 20, 2008, in Beijing. (Scott Halleran/Getty Images for VISA)
“I think for me, it was always something I dreamed about,” Liukin said. “I remember watching the Atlanta Games and watching the [Magnificent Seven] walk into the Georgia Dome, and I didn’t quite at that age … understand really what it was, and I knew it was something that my dad did – and he had four medals – but I didn’t understand really what it was. I just knew it was a sport that I loved, and it was on TV, and I wanted to be just like them.
“I think the older I got and the more I fell in love with the sport and more passion I had for the sport, the more I wanted to do that. I wanted to wear red, white and blue with the American flag on my sleeve and on my leotard, on my warm-up jacket.”
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Nastia Liukin of the United States, left, teammate Shawn Johnson, center, and Cheng Fei of China display their medals after the finals of the balance beam event at the Olympics Games in Beijing on Aug. 19, 2008. (Nelson Ching/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Liukin said the more she focused her attention on gymnastics and eventually the Olympics, it became less about winning medals but rather the meaning behind being an American Olympian.
“I think being able to achieve that goal, it was less about, of course, winning a gold medal – and five medals is incredible [and] it’s something that I’m proud of – but it was less about that end result, and it was more about that feeling of being at an Olympic Games, and you’re representing something and part of something so much greater than yourself,” she told Fox News Digital.
“You’re representing a whole nation. It’s a lot of pressure. It’s a lot of expectation. But I remember, and still do, take that pressure with great pride and also responsibility of trying to make the whole country proud.”
Liukin, who spoke to Fox News Digital on behalf of her partnership with Ancestry, said she’ll forever remember her teammates on that team and that’s a special moment for her.
Liukin retired from the sport after failing to make the 2012 Olympics team.
Nastia Liukin attends the Beverly Hills Dog Show at the Los Angeles County Fairplex on Feb. 29, 2020, in Pomona, California. (Sarah Morris/Getty Images)
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She said she’s looking forward to watching Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee and the rest of Team USA at the 2024 Paris Games.
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