Nastia Liukin will not be heading to the Olympics this Summer. The gold medalist faltered during her uneven bar routine during the Olympic gymnastic trials and was cut from the squad.
Despite Liukin’s fall, the crowd sent her off with a standing ovation.
Liukin, who was the all-around gold medalist in 2008, acknowledged that her Olympic career was over.
“To be able to end it with thousands and thousands of people standing on their feet cheering for me even though I had not an amazing performance is something that I will remember… You couldn’t have planned out a better way to end a career.”
Liukin, now 22, was the old veteran at the Olympic trials this weekend. But the former gold medalist said that age had nothing to do with her performance.
“It has nothing to do with age, it has to do with the performance that you are putting out. This time, the young generation came in stronger. I don’t think if you are over 20 you can’t make it. It just shows the amazing talent that we have.”
And the US does have some amazing young talent. Gabrielle Douglas, Jordyn Wieber, and McKayla Maroney (all 16-years-old), Alexandra Raisman(18-years-old), and Kyla Ross (15-years-old) will be representing the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Here’s a video of Nastia Liukin’s fall during the 2012 Olympic trials.
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