Nastia Liukin: When Winning Gold Medals Is The Family Business

Read why five-time Olympic medalist Nastia Liukin says international business is in her future and about her plans to launch her own clothing line of jeans sold at Macy’s!

by Nicole D. Smith

October 23, 2008

A   19-year-old Texan, Nastia Liukin, captured America's heart this summer from halfway around the world with the poise, grace, beauty and athletic strength that she showed in the Olympics. But Liukin also stood out for other reasons.

"I try to set myself apart from the other gymnasts by doing different things," she says with assuredness. "I'm taller ... than a lot of the other gymnasts. So, it makes me look different [when I do] gymnastics."

But surprisingly Liukin says that when she goes into any competition, including the Olympic Games, it's not the possibility of winning medals that's on her mind: it's the possibility of living out her dreams, in both athletics and business.

"Going into competitions I never expect medals," the Russian-born gymnast says. "I just try and go out there, and do my best performance. Of course medals are in the back of [my] mind, and [I] always want to do [my] best and perform well. But going into a competition, that's never in my thought process."

Winning five medals - one gold, three silvers and one bronze - may not have been in the forefront of her mind, but bringing home the gold certainly is a longtime family tradition. Her father, Valeri Liukin – who is also his daughter's personal coach – is a former Soviet gymnastics Olympic champion. Her mother is not short of gymnastics greatness either. Both reigned in gymnastics in their heydays.

Liukin says as she attributes her parents' success in gymnastics for her involvement in the sport. " My dad went to the '88 Olympic games and won two gold and two silver medals. My mother won [the World Gymnastic Championship] in 1987. So I guess it was kind of in my blood."

What also runs in her veins is the desire to be an entrepreneur. That comes as no surprise, either, given her family background. Her father started his own business in 1994, opening a gym to train youngsters in the sport. Now the family owns three gyms in the Dallas area. So to Liukin, entrepreneurship is simply the norm. "I have been used to it from my parents' side, them having three major businesses."

Liukin even declared the international business as her college major when she enrolled in January in Southern Methodist University.

"I guess [I chose] international [business] because I was born in Russia. I'm fluent in Russian. And I speak a little bit of Spanish. ... And, I love to travel. I've traveled to so many different places already, and I hope to continue that. Because after gymnastics, I'd like to stay involved in gymnastics no matter what, but at the same time I thought [a degree in international business] was a pretty broad thing that I could do a lot with."


And for this top athlete, it's often the competitive world of business that fuels her drive. Liukin is designing her own line of jeans, the Nastia Gold Collection by Vanilla Star, a line available at Macy's. This responsibility leaves this world-renowned teenager in high-level meetings with C-level executives and world-class designers.

"It's a little bit different for me going to all of these business meetings. I'm so used to being in the gym ... training. So now when I have to go into meetings, it's a very different life," she says. "[But] it was an honor to be approached by these designers, and to have them talking to me. And I personally designed a few items myself."

Everything in the design of the jeans symbolizes her Olympic experience. "There's a lot of gold, silver, bronze accessories and buttons. ... So, all of the buttons have Nastia Gold all over them, and the zippers are gold. There's a lot referring to gold. On the back of the of some jeans it has embroidery 888, which is the date the Olympic Games started this year."

And since this is her name on her label, Liukin says she doesn't hold back when it comes to what's right for Nastia Gold.

 "I'm pretty honest with what I do and don't like, because if it is going to be my own line, it would be things that I would wear, that I like, and that I would like to see people wear."

And, her business activities do not stop with her jean line. She's now the spokeswoman for several famous brands, including AT&T, Visa and Herbal Essences. In June 2008, Liukin and her teammates became the first female athletes signed as CoverGirl models and spokeswomen. And when asked why major corporations consider her a desirable commodity, she gives some of the credit to the sport she loves.

" [Corporations hire me partly because] gymnastics is a popular sport, and it's definitely in the top three, along with track and field, in the Olympics. It's a very unique sport. In terms of me personally, I think I'm [different] than the other gymnasts."

Currently participating in The Tour of Gymnastics Superstars, this young businesswoman continues to create lofty goals for the future.

"We'll see how [the Olympic Games in] London of 2012 [will pan out.] ... that's definitely a long ways away, but not out of the question," she says. As for college: "I would love to start school in January and just see how that goes."

Nastia Liukin recently visited Atlanta at Macy's North Point store in Alpharetta to announce her new Nastia-inspired denim and T-shirt line of fashions, the Nastia Gold Collection by Vanilla Star.