Valeri Liukin

Valeri Liukin
— Gymnast —
Full name Valeri Viktorovich Liukin
Former countries represented  Kazakhstan
 Soviet Union
Born 17 December 1966
Aktyubinsk, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
Residence Parker, Texas
Height 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)[1]
Discipline Men's Artistic Gymnastics
Retired 1993

Valeri Viktorovich Liukin (Russian: Валерий Викторович Люкин, born 17 December 1966 in Aktyubinsk, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union) is a retired competitive artistic gymnast who competed for the former Soviet Union. Liukin is the 1988 Olympic Champion in the team competition and individually on the horizontal bar and Olympic silver medalist in the all-around and the parallel bars. He is now a coach.

Liukin is the first man to do a triple back flip on floor and both a layout Tkatchev and a Jaeger with full twist on high bar.[2]

He moved to the United States and became a U.S. citizen in 2000. He is married to Anna Kotchneva and is the father and coach of 2008 Olympic champion Nastia Liukin. He is co-owner of the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy with longtime friend Evgeny Marchenko.

Career

Junior

Liukin began gymnastics when he was 7 years old. He moved to Moscow to join the Soviet Junior National team, where he made his world debut at the 1985 Friendship Cup. Coached by Eduard Yarov, Liukin was a member of the Soviet Union National Team until the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Senior

At the 1987 European Championships in Moscow, he won gold medals in the all-around, on the horizontal bar, and in the floor exercise where he was the first gymnast to perform a triple back somersault. He won the silver medal on the still rings and the bronze on the vault. At the 1987 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, he won the team competition with the Soviet Union.

At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Liukin won the gold medal in the team competition, and was the co-champion on the horizontal bar with fellow Soviet gymnast Vladimir Artemov. Liukin won the silver medal in the all-around and on the parallel bars.

At the 1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Indianapolis, he again was a member of the champion Soviet team in the Team competition. He won the bronze medal in the All-Around.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Liukin competed for his native Kazakhstan, competing for them most notably at the 1993 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and the 1994 Asian Games, but did not win a medal at either competition.

Coaching

Liukin's first Olympic champion, Carly Patterson, won gold in the all-around at the 2004 games in Athens,[3] and was the second American woman to ever win this title. She also was the only athlete to compete on all four events in the team championships, leading the USA to Team Silver, and won a silver medal in the beam finals. Four years later, he became internationally renowned for coaching his second consecutive all around Olympic champion, his daughter, Nastia Liukin, to the 2008 Summer Olympics.[4] In addition, Nastia won silver on the team competition, uneven bars, and balance beam event finals as well as a bronze medal on floor exercise.

His current notable gymnasts include 2010 National Champion and 6-time world medalist Rebecca Bross as well as 2011 junior National champion and 2013 American Cup champion Katelyn Ohashi. Bross placed second in the all-around competition at the World Championships in London 2009 and gym-mate Ivana Hong placed third in the beam competition. Bross and Nastia both failed to qualify for the London 2012 Olympic team, resulting in Liukin's retirement from international and senior competition. Ohashi was too young to meet the eligibility criteria to compete in the Olympics.[5]

He was the International Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2004. He was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2005.[6]

Personal life

He married Anna Kotchneva, a 1987 World Champion rhythmic gymnast, while still competing himself. Their daughter, Nastia Liukin, was born in Moscow in 1989. In 1992, Liukin moved to the United States and began a coaching career. Liukin originally settled in New Orleans, but later moved to Plano, Texas.

Liukin owns and runs three World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) locations with business partner Evgeny Marchenko.[2]

He had a small cameo in the film Stick It as the spotter in his daughter's uneven bars routine.

References

  1. ↑ Hairopoulos, Kate (2008-08-15). "Parents' support, coaching and great DNA helped make gymnast Nastia Liukin an Olympian". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Valeri Viktorovich Liukin bio". Premier Management Group Sports. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  3. ↑ http://woga.net/team-2/champions/4713-2/
  4. ↑ Zaccardi, Nick (July 27, 2011). "One Year Out: Bross could become U.S.' third straight golden gymnast". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  5. ↑ Lawrence, Blythe (March 15, 2012). "Top junior in the U.S. to display her talents". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  6. ↑ "Valery Liukin (USSR)". The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Retrieved 25 July 2012.

External links