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Nastia Liukin’s First Standing Ovation Came When She Least Expected It

BEIJING – AUGUST 15: (L-R) Silver medalist Shawn Johnson of the United States, gold medalist Nastia Liukin of the United States and bronze medalist Yang Yillin of China pose together on the podium after competing in the women’s individual all-around artistic gymnastics final at the National Indoor Stadium on Day 7 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 15, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Nastia Liukin and her U.S. teammate Shawn Johnson (now Johnson East) were the top two gymnasts in the world. There was no question before the games that it would be a two-woman duel for Individual All Around gold, and every fan on the planet was speculating which of the two would show up when it counted most.

East had the compact, muscular build of the quintessential gymnast, whereas Liukin had inherited a more lanky, flexible physique from her rhythmic gymnast mother. The 18-year-old Liukin and 15-year-old East were close friends and Beijing roommates, and had been trading the one and two spots back and forth in pre-Olympic competitions.

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KRISTIAN DOWLING/GETTY IMAGES

But once in Beijing, the more veteran Liukin was able to outperform her teammate for Olympic gold in the Individual All-Around, the ultimate individual achievement in gymnastics. Sharing that moment with her father and coach, Valeri Liukin, who had lost his one chance at all-around Olympic gold by one tenth of a point twenty years prior while competing for the Soviet Union, was both extremely special and emotional.

But almost straight away, Liukin felt a sense of sorrow saddle up next to her joy.

“Immediately I was like, ‘What now?’” she recalls to Kelley O’Hara on the Just Women’s Sports Podcast, “Waking up the next day… it was just this strange feeling of accomplishment mixed with almost sadness and glimpses of depression that it was over.”

While “post-Olympic depression” isn’t an official medical diagnosis, it accurately describes the emotional state many elite athletes experience after the games. It’s even the subject of Michael Phelps’ recent HBO documentary “Weight of Gold.” And the fact that the world’s most decorated Olympic athlete of all time has struggled to find self-worth outside of the global sporting spotlight speaks to the power of the feeling that set in for Liukin when she left Beijing in 2008.

Alongside this perplexing gloom was the fact that her friendship with East ended as soon as they left China. The battle for gold had played out and the medals had been given. One of them won, and the other had lost. As two young women whose identities were conjoined to their public personas, they couldn’t find a way to be friends when their management teams profited from constantly pitting them against each other and consumer demand seemed to revel in it.

Over the next couple years, Liukin hemmed and hawed about her gymnastics future but took advantage of many lucrative opportunities bestowed upon the reigning champion. Leading up to the 2012 London Olympics, not yet able to visualize who she was if not a gymnast, she decided to attempt the almost impossible, qualifying for a second straight Olympics at 22 years old in a sport where elite athletes have a torturously short shelf-life. She knew the chances were remote, but she also knew the regret of not trying would be worse than failing.

“I just knew that I didn’t want to be sitting in the stands [in London] thinking, ‘What if?’” she tells O’Hara.

At the 2012 Olympic trials, in what ended up being the final competitive performance of her career, Liukin began her famously challenging routine on the uneven bars, her signature event, with the poise of a seasoned veteran. But in the middle of her routine, coming around from a release she’d done countless times before, Liukin missed the bar and fell with a loud and violent smack, face down on the mat below.

“Immediately, I was embarrassed,” she confesses to O’Hara. She remembers thinking, “You are the best in the world, you are not supposed to fall on your face.”

Liukin knew in that moment that her life as an Olympic athlete was officially over. After taking a few seconds to get her bearings and ensure nothing but her ego had been damaged, she re-chalked and got back on the bars to finish her routine.

What happened next completely surprised her.

“All of a sudden I started seeing people stand on their feet,” she recalls to O’Hara, “I quickly realized these people were giving me a standing ovation. It was the first standing ovation of my entire career, for the worst routine of my entire career. That was the moment that I realized we are not defined by our success… These people are clapping and cheering just for me as a person.”

In that moment, Liukin was finally able to separate a permanent and persisting sense of self from her identity as a gymnast. She became someone who did gymnastics, instead of a gymnast with a capital G.

And her relationship with her once rival found space to grow again.

Once East and Liukin had grown into who they were beyond gymnastics, they realized how badly they missed their friendship. Reconnecting prior to East’s 2016 wedding, the two are now closer than ever, and Liukin is the godmother of East’s young son.

Looking back, Liukin now understands why the crowd stood and cheered after her abysmal mistake at the 2012 Olympic trials.

“It was the relatability,” she explains to O’Hara. “Not many people can relate to winning an Olympic gold medal. Every single person in this world can relate to falling on their face, literally or figuratively. It’s, how do I pick myself up? And how do I keep going? How do I not let that fall define me and who I am as a person?”

The unexpected sense of emptiness which followed her achieving her life’s dream in Beijing, along with the surprising standing ovation after her biggest failure four years later, bookended a valuable lesson Liukin is now sharing with the world: it’s how we navigate the journey of aiming, not the actual acquirement of the aim itself, that is the source of true meaning, purpose, and fulfillment.

Wimbledon Increases Prize Money, Winner to Receive $4.07 Million

Czechia's Barbora Krejčíková celebrates a point during the 2024 Wimbledon final.
2025 Wimbledon competitors could win up to 11.1% more prize money this year. (Simon Bruty/Anychance/Getty Images)

Wimbledon is leveling up, as the annual London-based Grand Slam announced Thursday that it's increasing its purse by 7% across the board in 2025, pushing the total prize money to £53.5 million ($72.59 million) ahead of tennis tournament's June 30th kick-off.

Both the 2025 women's and men's singles champions will earn winner's checks in the amount of £3 million ($4.07 million) — an 11.1% increase over the amount won by 2024 champ Barbora Krejčíková.

With increases across all Slam events, from singles and doubles to wheelchair competitions, even athletes who stumble early will see a raise over last year's competition.

For example, singles players ousted in this year's first round will take home 10% more than in 2024, earning deposits of £66,000 ($89,530).

The 2025 total purse now doubles the prize money offered by the tournament a decade ago, and makes Wimbledon the biggest potential payday across all four of the sport's Grand Slams.

"We're immensely proud of the fact that, if you look back 10 years, you can see the increase over that period and 7% this year," said All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club chair Deborah Jevans. "And we have listened to the players, we have engaged with the players."

Canadian Swimmer Summer McIntosh Breaks 3rd World Record in Five Days

Canadian star swimmer Summer McIntosh competes in a 2025 race.
Summer McIntosh recorded three world records in five days at the 2025 Canadian swimming trials. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Teen swimmer Summer McIntosh made a major splash at the 2025 Canadian Swimming Trials, shattering three world records in just five days of competition in Victoria, BC.

First on Saturday, the Toronto swimmer shaved 1.2 seconds off the Australian Ariarne Titmus's 400-meter freestyle mark to set a new world record time of 3:54.18.

Then on Monday, McIntosh took down a decade-old record in the 200-meter individual medley (IM), becoming the first woman swimmer to complete the race in less than 2:06.00.

Just two days later, the 18-year-old McIntosh broke her own 400-meter IM world record, besting her 2024 Canadian Olympic Trials time by 0.73 seconds with a 4:23.65 race Wednesday.

With her unstoppable week-long performance, McIntosh became the first swimmer to set three new world records in different individual events at one meet since US legend Michael Phelps's historic run at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"Going into tonight, I knew I could do something really special because this has probably been the best meet of my career," McIntosh told reporters after Wednesday's race.

That said, the young star is already eyeing new times — and new records.

"Overall, [I'm] happy with the time, but I know I can go faster," said McIntosh following her 400-meter IM performance. "The faster I swim, the happier I am."

NWSL Returns to California for 2025 Championship Weekend

View of PayPal Park during a 2025 NWSL match.
San Jose's PayPal Park will host the 2025 NWSL Championship in November. (Eakin Howard/NWSL via Getty Images)

The NWSL Championship is on its way back West, with the league announcing on Friday morning that the 2025 title match will kick off from PayPal Park in San Jose, California.

Hosted at the home pitch of 2024 expansion team Bay FC, the game will take place on Saturday, November 22nd.

In addition to the championship match, the 2025 NWSL season's final weekend will include a variety of supporting events like Fan Fest and the annual Skills Challenge competition.

"We're thrilled to bring the NWSL Championship back to the West Coast and to a region with as rich a history in women's soccer as the Bay Area," said NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman in a league statement.

Citing a long list of former USWNT stars with local ties, including Julie Foudy, Kelley O'Hara, and Alex Morgan, Bay FC co-founder Brandi Chastain — a US legend herself — called the Bay Area "the place women's soccer calls home."

"Our community's fabric is woven with the greatest the game has to offer," explained Chastain.

"This community's passion for the game, combined with the excitement surrounding one of our newest teams in Bay FC, makes it the perfect setting to celebrate the league's top talent and crown our next champion," said Berman.

How to attend and watch the 2025 NWSL Championship

Like last year, the 2025 NWSL Championship will air in primetime, with CBS set to broadcast the match live at 8 PM ET on November 22nd.

Tickets to the game will be available for purchase beginning in August, though interested fans can sign up for presale access online now.

NWSL, WNBA Player Unions Address ICE Raids, Voice Solidarity with Los Angeles

Orlando Pride players huddle before a 2025 NWSL match.
The NWSLPA and the WNBPA put out a joint statement addressing this week's ICE raids in Los Angeles. (Alex Menendez/Getty Images)

The NWSL and WNBA Players Associations teamed up to release a joint statement on Thursday, with the unions expressing their solidarity with "all people seeking safety, dignity, and opportunity" after the recent ICE raids and ensuing protests in Los Angeles.

The move comes after Angel City published their own social media post addressing the ICE raids last Saturday, with the Los Angeles NWSL club noting "We know that our city is stronger because of its diversity and the people and families who shape it, love it, and call it home."

ACFC also directed immigrants in need of assistance in the wake of the ICE raids to two community organizations: the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights and the LA County Office of Immigrant Affairs.

Calling the WNBA Players Association "leaders in this space," NWSL Players Association executive director Meghann Burke told The Athletic that the basketball union initiated their joint statement.

"It's important to stand together as workers' unions," she noted.

NWSL and WNBA unions speak to families impacted by ICE raids

"It's not lost on us that this country and the world are in turmoil right now," wrote the NWSLPA and WNBPA. "Across the country, families are facing fear, hardship, and uncertainty tied to immigration."

The athlete unions then crystallized their position, saying, "We stand with all people seeking safety, dignity, and opportunity, no matter where they come from or where they hope to go."

"Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect," they continued. "We know not every situation is simple. But offering compassion should never be up for debate."

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