Family Tradition

Gymnast Anastasia Valeryevna Liukin, more commonly known as Nastia, is part of the United States gymnastics team and will be competing in Beijing. She was born in Moscow in the fall of 1989 and moved to the United States when she was only 2 ½ years old. Her parents, Anna and Valeri Liukin, were both Olympic gymnasts themselves and became gymnastic coaches once they moved to the United States. While training other athletes to be gymnasts, they would bring Nastia along. When they saw how much potential she had, they began coaching her as well.

I think many people start to play sports because of their family’s interest in sports or because of a history their family has with a sport. Often times it is because they grow up in an environment where that is the predominant sport being played or talked about. For example, I know two families in which the parents are huge soccer fans and grew up playing soccer, in fact, those parents are still playing soccer today. All the children in both of those families play competitive soccer now and love the game. Another more personal example has to do with my mother and I - My mother used to dance when she was growing up and when I was five years old, she signed me up for the same type of dance classes.

Do you play any sports that someone else in your family likes or plays? How did you get introduced to some of the sports you play?