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Nastia Liukin's Healthy Living and Diet Tips

FitSugar — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:30:00 -0800

The 2008 Olympic Games came and went as quickly as Michael Phelps won his 100 meter butterfly race, and for many of us, a small dose of Olympics withdrawal followed the closing ceremony. Shape seems to have known how much everyone was missing the inspirational athletes that graced our screens in August, and sat down to chat with the graceful Nastia Liukin about her life after winning the gold.

When asked how her life has changed since the Olympics, Nastia told Shape, "It's a dream come true. It's amazing to know that all the years of hard work paid off. It wasn't an easy journey, especially with injuries, but it was worth it. I'm traveling all over right now."

To see her tips for healthy living, read more.

Shape asked the 19-year-old gold medal winner for her best healthy living tips, and she answered, "Don't go crazy about dieting. Eat healthy, but if you want to splurge and have a cookie, then have a cookie. Depriving yourself is the worst! Exercise on a daily basis. Whether you take your dog for a walk, go for a run in the park or just do some ab moves in your living room, it's very important to do something every day!"

Visit Shape to see Nastia's diet on a typical day.

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What's Next For Gymnasts Liukin and Johnson

FitSugar — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:00:00 -0700

Women's gymnastics really seems like a sport for girls. While there were some older competitors, like Alicia Sacramone of the US and China's Cheng Fei who are both 20, it seems a sport loaded with youngsters. So what happens to these women, or girls, after competing at the top? All-around gold medal winner Nastia Liukin and her teammate Shawn Johnson are definitely approaching their futures differently. These girls roomed together at the Olympics and wanted to go gold and silver in as many events as they could, but let me tell you about their next moves.

The 18-year-old Nastia Liukin will be heading home to Texas Thursday with her five medals, one gold, one bronze, and three silvers. She has many ad campaigns in the works, including one for Visa, and you can expect to see her on the Jay Leno show sometime next week. Daughter of Olympian gymnasts, Liukin plans on competing in the 2009 world championships.

To see what Shawn's future holds, read more.

For the near future, Shawn plans on shopping and visiting the Great Wall as well as walking in the closing ceremony. After training with the hopes of a gold medal in the all-around competition, this 16-year-old from Iowa will probably take off her first semester of her junior year of high school to participate in a planned gymnastics tour. She told reporters:

It's hard to think about four more years. After not winning the all-around, it hit me pretty hard, not that I got the silver, but just all my emotions came out. I was training to win gold. I'm just proud of myself that I kept my head up.

Having been riveted to my TV for the last week watching these amazing young ladies tumble, twist, and vault, I will miss them. How about you?

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Women's Gymnastics: Silver and Gold!

FitSugar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:00:00 -0700

Last night seemed like a redemption match, gymnastics styles. The top three were all amazing, but Nastia Liukin was the best in the all-around competition. She gracefully stepped out from behind Shawn Johnson's athletic shadow and was lovely on the beam as well as the other three elements: uneven bars, floor, and vault. The Chinese gymnast Yilin Yang took the bronze.

On her winning a gold medal Nastia said: "I can't believe it still. I worked so hard for many years for this, I don't know what to say. I couldn't have been here without my parents."

Shawn was gracious about winning silver medal and explained, "It's been a long road, I feel like the baby of the group, to come out with silver is an amazing experience."

Congrats to all the gymnasts and a thank you for creating a night of exciting competition.

To see some great photos from the event, just read more.

View 12 Photos ›

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8 For 8 in '08 and Other Olympic News

FitSugar — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0700

In case you missed it, and I honestly don't know how you could have, swimmer Michael Phelps accomplished what he set out to do and won eight gold medals in Beijing. Phelps won more gold medals than any other athlete during one Olympic games. Wow! It has been truly amazing to watch history in the making.

Other swimming news, the oldest female swimmer to ever compete in the Olympics Dara Torres (age 41) won three silver medals. She lost the gold in her signature event, the 50m freestyle by .01 seconds to 24-year-old German Britta Steffan. Torres joked that she shouldn't have filed her nails that day. After this most recent comeback, Dara will be retiring from competitive swimming and is looking forward to taking her 2-year-old daughter to school next week.

To see more Olympic news including track and field and gymnastics read more.
The Jamaican sprinters are amazing this year, especially the women who took the gold and two silvers in the 100m due to a tie for second place. Of course, Usain Bolt's 100m gold winning run was amazing too.

Neither American Deena Kastor nor mommy marathoner Paula Radcliffe won the women's marathon event. Kastor, who won Bronze at the 2004 Athens games, did not finish the race due to a broken bone in her right foot. She heard a pop around the 5km mark and X-rays later confirmed a break. Radcliffe, the current world record holder, came in 23rd place running 26.2 miles in 2:32:38. She was 5:54 behind the gold medal winner from Romania.

Hurdler Lolo Jones won her first 100m heat with ease.

The friendly gymnastic duo placed silver and bronze in the individual floor event, but this time Shawn Johnson bested all-around gold medal winner Nastia Liukin. The uneven parallel bars individual finals will be held Monday evening and the balance beam individual finals will be the following night.

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh continue to win in beach volleyball. They face another Brazilian team at the semi-finals on Tuesday morning.

Records have been broken, dreams have been smashed, and we still have one more week of the Olympics to watch. What will you be watching?

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2008 Olympics Women's Gymanstics All-Around

FitSugar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:16:48 -0700

Photos of Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson competing in the the Women's Gymanstics All-Around Finals.

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Do You Think the Chinese Gymnasts Are All Over 16 Years of Age?

FitSugar — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:00:00 -0700

In a close competition, every detail falls under scrutiny.

The US women's gymnastic team, older and wiser than the gold-winning Chinese team, performed well minus a couple of falls and landed in second place. The 20-year-old team captain Alicia Sacramone, who unfortunately fell during both her floor routine as well as her balance beam exercise, tried to keep a positive attitude about winning silver as did her teammate Nastia Liukin. Although the team mostly accepted their defeat with grace, the age of the much younger Chinese team was once again questioned by US coach Marta Karolyi, wife of coach Beyla Karolyi with whom she trained gold medalists Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton. A report was published just before the games alleging that at least two of the Chinese gymnasts are only 14-years-old, making them ineligible for competition. Both of the Karolyis have complained that the stadium officials disrupted Sacramone's preparation prior to competing on the balance beam.

What do you think? Do you believe the Chinese gymnasts are all 16 years old? Or do you think these accusations are poor sportsmanship?

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