By Any Other Name

Phone call from Ana (4 1/2 years) on Thursday:

Granny, did you see the Olympics?

No, what did you see?

We watched the gymnastics and she won, she won! She's so pretty. She won the gold medal.

Oh, you mean Nastia (pronounced 'NAWS-T-AH)?

No, I mean 'ANA'!

Our 4 /12 year old Ana's given name is Anastasiya Antonovna Smith, she is called Ana (AHH-NA) or Nastia (NAWS-T-AH). Her middle name comes from the Russian female version of her dad Tony's name. So I looked up some info on the 18 year old Nastia. So our Ana figured that the other Nastia was called Ana, too!

Liukin was born in Moscow of the former Soviet Union and goes by Nastia, the Russian diminutive of Anastasia. Liukin is fluent in Russian and English, speaks some Spanish and would like to learn French. Nastia's parents are products of the Soviet gymnastics machine. Nastia's father, Valeri Liukin, was a double gold medalist (team, high bar) at the 1988 Seoul Games, and her mother, Anna Kochneva Liukin, was the 1987 rhythmic world champion with clubs. Citing their personal experiences (in wedding photos, Valeri is sporting a cast), Valeri and Anna were reluctant to let Nastia begin formal training. But since they could not afford a babysitter, Nastia tagged along to the gym. From the sidelines, Nastia began imitating the moves of gymnasts she watched and was soon outperforming them. Unable to ignore their four-year-old's natural talent, Valeri and Anna relented. Nastia Liukin captured the Olympic gold medal in the all-around competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympics defeating teammate Shawn Johnson who finished in second. She added this medal to the family's trophy case exactly twenty years after her father captured two golds at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. A rising freshman at Southern Methodist University in Texas, Liukin plans to study international business.