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Everything you need to know about Nastia Liukin

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Nastia Liukin took the world by storm during the 2008 Olympic Games, clinching gold in the women’s gymnastics all-around. Ascending to the top of her sport, Liukin quickly captured national attention and admiration, solidifying her place as gymnastics royalty.

Born in Moscow, Raised in Texas

Gymnastics has been part of Liukin’s life from the start, after she was born to two Soviet champion gymnasts, Valeri Liukin and Anna Kotchneva, in Moscow in 1989. When she was just two years old, Liukin, along with her parents, moved to the United States, landing first in New Orleans and then settling in Dallas, TX.

Liukin’s parents immediately started on their shared dream of establishing a gymnastics gym and training facility. The young star quickly started hanging around her parents’ business, taking to the sport right away.

Soon after Liukin began training, her father reluctantly began coaching her, something he initially hoped to avoid. The sport’s physical dangers motivated Liukin’s dad to watch over her, spot her and ensure his daughter’s safety.

“I think they really, really were hoping that I wasn’t going to be good,” Liukin told Kelly O’Hara on the Just Women’s Sports podcast, adding that her parents were worried their success in the sport would be too much pressure for their daughter.

Liukin’s future in the sport was never a forgone conclusion, with the gymnast inheriting her mother’s taller, slender body type rather than the more compact strength necessary for an artistic gymnast. It wasn’t until she made the junior national team at 12-years old that Liukin felt that people started to notice her burgeoning talent. Though Liukin was too young to participate in the 2004 Olympics, Carly Patterson, who trained at Liukin’s gym, won the all-around gold in Athens, giving the teen hope for her own Olympic dreams. In 2005, Liukin won gold in the balance beam and uneven bars at the World Championship, racking up silver medals in all-around and floor, and setting off an illustrious junior career.

Ahead of the 2008 Olympics, in 2007, Liukin hit a snag, injuring her ankle.

“That year at Worlds, I traveled in a wheelchair, couldn’t walk,” Liukin recalls to O’Hara, adding that she could only compete for the team on uneven bars.

Eventually, Liukin underwent surgery after reinjuring her ankle, leading to what she deems “the worst year of my career.” But in hindsight, Liukin says the challenging year was the “best thing that kind of could have happened,” adding that the “low down” lit a fire ahead of the Olympics.

2008 Olympics

After coming second in the Olympic Trials to Shawn Johnson East, Liukin was named to the Team USA roster, with the moment only feeling real to the 18-year-old when she boarded the flight to Beijing. Soon the hype started to build as roommates and teammates Liukin and East began competing against each other for individual medals.

The 2008 Games marked the first Olympics where two American gymnasts were favored to go one and two in the coveted all-around event, creating a palpable rivalry between Liukin and East.

“We were fine being roommates — we were actually really good friends that just happened to have the same exact goal,” said Liukin, revealing that the relationship began to change around the all-around event. After Liukin clinched gold in the all-around and East took silver, the two tried their best to support each other, but the competition and noise around both athletes made that difficult.

Though complicated by a complex team dynamic, capturing the all-around title was an unforgettable moment Liukin shared with her father and coach.

“I’ve never in my life seen my dad cry, and I spotted him way across the arena and he was crying,” Liukin recalls of the medal ceremony. The Olympic feat was very much a full-circle moment, with her dad having won silver in the all-around 20 years prior.

Liukin finished the Beijing Games with silver medals in balance beam, team, uneven bars, and a bronze in the floor exercise.

Post-Olympic life

Following the Olympics, Liukin reveals she experienced moments of depression, wondering what came next after achieving her wildest dreams. Her lingering melancholy was compounded by Liukin’s deteriorating friendship with East. The post-Olympic media circus and rival management teams had torn the former friends apart.

“It felt like the world just started pitting us against each other in every single aspect — it was 10 times worse than leading up to the Olympics,” admits Liukin.

After eight years of silence between the former competitors, Johnson reached out to Liukin via email, with the two eventually agreeing to meet up. Following the initial reunion, Liukin attended East’s wedding, even becoming the godmother to the couple’s first child.

The two are not shy about their evolving friendship, often reliving their days as competitors and bringing fans along on their reconciliation journey.

Gymnastics Retirement

After taking a much-needed two years off from the sport following her Olympic debut, Liukin decided to make a run for the 2012 London Games. Making it all the way to the Olympic Trials, Liukin faced one of the hardest moments in her career, falling during her best event, the uneven bars.

“I fell face first and faceplanted,” Liukin remembers. After the initial shock wore off, Liukin dusted herself off to the crowd’s adoration.

“I wanted to crawl under the podium,” said Liukin. “Then I was like, ‘okay wait, this isn’t how my career ends.’”

The American star finished the routine, and though she was embarrassed and knew her Olympic dreams were dashed, the crowd gave Liukin a standing ovation. That moment helped Liukin to realize her worth wasn’t defined solely by her gymnastics successes.

She retired from the mat shortly after that competition, officially leaving gymnastics.

What’s next

Liukin left gymnastics as a competitor but has hung around the sport after being hired as an NBC commentator. Most recently, Liukin covered the Tokyo Games, establishing herself as a compelling sports broadcaster who we’ll likely see again during the 2024 Games.

Liukin also maintains a website where she shares her love for all things “fitness, fashion, beauty, and living a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle.”

Gotham, Portland Gear Up for Concacaf W Champions Cup Semifinals

Gotham goalie Cassie Miller makes a save during a 2024 Concacaf W Champions Cup group-stage match.
Gotham played Tigres UANL to a 4-4 draw in last October’s Champions Cup group stage match. (Ira L. Black - Corbis/Getty Images)

The battle for continental soccer glory continues on Wednesday, as the Portland Thorns and Gotham FC land in Mexico for the 2024/25 Concacaf W Champions Cup semifinals.

After advancing past last fall's group-stage play, both NWSL sides now face Liga MX standouts in the knockout rounds with a ticket to Saturday's Champions Cup Final on the line.

The back-to-back semifinals will take place on Wednesday in Nuevo León, Mexico, with live coverage streaming on Paramount+:

  • Club América vs. Gotham FC, 7:30 PM ET: Both the Bats and this year's Liga MX regular season champions are looking to bounce back, as Gotham attempts to shake off a recent NWSL skid while América seeks redemption after stumbling in their season-ending league tournament earlier this month.
  • Tigres UANL vs. Portland Thorns, 10:30 PM ET: Expect a high-energy clash between the three-time NWSL champs and six-time Liga MX title-winners, with the Thorns coming off a five-match undefeated streak and the Tigres shooting to impress in front of their home crowd at Estadio Universitario.

It's not just hardware and continental bragging rights on the line, though.

Saturday's 2024/25 Concacaf W Champions Cup victors will also earn automatic qualification into FIFA's 2026 Champions Cup — a six-team tournament between confederation winners — and the first-ever Club World Cup, which will kick off in 2028.

National Seeds Fall as NCAA Softball Storms into Super Regionals

Ole Miss pitcher Aliyah Binford winds up during a 2025 NCAA softball postseason game.
Ole Miss is one of four unseeded teams to make the 2025 NCAA softball Super Regionals. (Mady Mertens-Imagn Images)

After a first-round weekend of pitcher's duels and red-hot bats, the 2025 NCAA softball tournament's best-of-three Super Regionals field is set — and it's missing four of the 16 national seeds.

No. 10 LSU fell on Saturday after two upset losses to unseeded SE Louisiana, before Sunday saw No. 13 Arizona and No. 14 Duke follow suit while unseeded Ole Miss, Georgia, and Nebraska all punched second-round tickets.

Eventually ousting SE Louisiana in the winners' bracket to advance to their first Super Regionals in 11 years, the Huskers rode in on the back of two-time All-American pitcher Jordy Bahl, with the Oklahoma transfer throwing 12 innings and hitting four home runs across Nebraska's three Regional games.

Elsewhere, unseeded Liberty booked a program-first trip to the Supers by eliminating top-seed Texas A&M — the first time the NCAA bracket's overall No. 1 seed failed to advance from Regionals.

Should they similarly bounce No. 16 Oregon this weekend, Liberty will become just the second mid-major team to make the Women's College World Series (WCWS) since 2014, joining James Madison's 2021 Cinderella run.

Rounding out the rest of the Super Regional round's 16 teams are No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Arkansas, No. 5 Florida State, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Tennessee, and No. 8 South Carolina, as well as No. 9 UCLA, No. 11 Clemson, No. 12 Texas Tech, No. 15 Alabama, and the aforementioned No. 16 Ducks.

Oklahoma's Ailana Agbayani celebrates her three-run homer with her team during the 2025 NCAA softball tournament.
Four-time defending champs Oklahoma will face Alabama in this weekend's Super Regionals. (BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Super Regional weekend to feature blockbuster matchups

The 16 contenders will battle head-to-head for eight available WCWS berths, with the four-time defending champion Sooners now leading the field.

To advance, however, Oklahoma must first outlast Alabama, a team with which the Sooners have a long, contentious postseason history — the pair have faced off in five of the last 12 NCAA tournaments.

After Oklahoma bounced Alabama from the 2019 WCWS semifinals — the last time the pair squared off before becoming SEC rivals — the Tide enacted revenge by narrowly beating the Sooners in April's conference play, teeing up a tense weekend Super Regional series.

After narrowly missing this weekend's hosting rights as the No. 9 seed — UCLA's lowest seeding since 2016 — the Bruins proved why they are the sport's winningest program, run-ruling ever Regional game while allowing just two runs all weekend.

The 12-time champions will now travel to Gamecock territory, where No. 8 South Carolina will try to boost the Bruins and book their first WCWS ticket in 28 years.

Powerhouses still rule the diamond, but parity has never been higher in college softball, with this year's NCAA tournament already delivering whiplash results.

Texas Tech pitcher NiJaree Canady celebrates a 2025 NCAA softball postseason win.
2024 National Player of the Year NiJaree Canady led Texas Tech to a program-first Super Regional. (Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

How to watch the 2025 NCAA softball Super Regionals

The best-of three NCAA softball Super Regionals kick off on Thursday and run through the weekend, with possible winner-take-all clashes finalizing the WCWS slate on Sunday.

First games are as follows:

  • No. 12 Texas Tech at No. 5 Florida State, 7 PM ET on Thursday (ESPN2)
  • No. 11 Clemson at No. 6 Texas, 9 PM ET on Thursday (ESPN2)
  • Georgia at No. 3 Florida, 11 AM ET on Friday (ESPN2)
  • No. 9 UCLA at No. 8 South Carolina, 1 PM ET on Friday (ESPN2)
  • No. 15 Alabama at No. 2 Oklahoma, 5 PM ET on Friday (ESPN2)
  • Nebraska at No. 7 Tennessee, 7 PM ET on Friday (ESPN2)
  • Ole Miss at No. 4 Arkansas, 8 PM ET on Friday (ESPNU)
  • Liberty at No. 16 Oregon, 10 PM ET on Friday (ESPNU)

PWHL Details 2025/26 Expansion Plan, Outlines Draft Rules

A close-up of the PWHL logo patch on the sleeve of a jersey.
The PWHL will expand to eight teams in the league's third season. (Rich Graessle/Getty Images)

With the 2025 PWHL Finals in full swing and new franchises on the horizon, the league rolled out a detailed expansion plan to build its two new teams on Monday.

The expansion process will see 24 current PWHL players — four from each of the six founding teams — join either Vancouver or Seattle next month.

To be eligible for selection, athletes must be either under contract or have rights held by a current team for the 2025/26 season. 

Each original team can protect three eligible athletes at the outset, with squads reserving the right to protect one additional player should the incoming clubs select two players off the same roster.

In the lead-up to June 9th's expansion draft, Vancouver and Seattle will have five days to sign up to five unprotected players each.

After that window closes, Seattle and Vancouver will increase their rosters to a required total of 12 players via expansion draft selections, with the number of picks for each team determined by how many athletes the new franchises choose to sign.

Finally, the West Coast squads will then complete their 23-athlete lineups alongside the other six teams during the PWHL's June 24th entry draft.

With such a broad unprotected player pool, about half of the PWHL's current athletes — including some of its brightest stars — will be up for grabs, ensuring a very different landscape when the league takes the ice for its third season.

USA Hockey Star Hilary Knight Says 2026 Olympics Will Be Her Last

USA hockey forward Hilary Knight skates with the puck.
Team USA captain Hilary Knight will make her international exit after the 2026 Olympics. (Steven Bisig/Imagn Images)


Team USA hockey titan Hilary Knight is hanging up her international skates, with the record-10-time world champion announcing Tuesday that the 2026 Winter Games in Milan, Italy, will be her fifth and final Olympic run.

"It's time," Knight told USA Today. "I'm at peace. I just have this feeling that it’s time."

Going out on her own terms is top-of-mind for the USA hockey great, with Knight acknowledging "That is such a privilege that only a handful of competitors get."

Making her national team debut at 17, the now-35-year-old is one of the sport's most decorated athletes, winning Olympic gold in 2018 to complement three silver medals in 2010, 2014, and 2022.

Just last month, Knight led the US to victory at the IIHF Women's World Championship, and currently sits as the tournament's all-time leader in goals (67), points (120), and assists (50).

Despite her impending step off the international ice, Knight, who currently captains the PWHL's Boston Fleet, plans to continue playing for the second-year league — a pro venture she helped bring to life in 2023.

"I understood what the sport gave me and I wanted to give that to other people," Knight said. "Obviously, there's tons of work that always needs to be done, but I think we now have a career path."
 
 
 
 

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