Anyone currently involved in the gymnastics community knows who Nastia Liukin is, but how much do we really know about her father, Valeri Liukin. Gymnast of the Week this week will take a closer look into Valeri’s gymnastics career and his accomplishments.

Liukin started gymnastics at age seven in what used to be the Soviet Union. At age sixteen he moved to Moscow to join the Soviet Junior National team and his world debut came in 1985 at the Friendship Cup. At the 1987 European Championships Liukin won the gold medal in the all-around, on floor, high bar, and the Soviet Union as a team placed first that year as well. He also won the silver medal on rings and took bronze on vault.

After his stellar performance at the European Championships, Luikin went to compete at his first World Championships held in Rotterdam. Liukin then showed the world what a spectacular gymnast he was when he competed a triple back tuck on floor, becoming the first gymnast to ever perform one. The skill was added to the Code of Points and named after him. Liukin also became the first gymnast to compete both a layout reverse hect and a Jaeger with full twist on high bar. At the 1988 Olympics Luikin tied for the gold medal on high bar and the silver on parallel bars and took second in the all-around. The Soviet Union also took first place in the team competition that year.

Following the 1988 Olympic games Liukin married Anna Kotchneva, a former World champion in rhythmic gymnastics, and in 1989 they gave birth to Anastasia, better known to everyone as Nastia, in Moscow. After the birth of Nastia, Liukin continued to compete and helped the Soviet Union win the team gold at the 1991 Worlds Championships and he won the bronze medal in the all-around.

Upon the fall of the Soviet Union, Liukin and family moved to the U.S. in 1992 and first resided in New Orleans and then relocated to Plano, Texas, where they live today. Although the Soviet Union fell and he was living in the U.S., Liukin continued to compete for his native Kazakhstan at the 1993 World Championships and the 1994 Asian Games.

After his retirement from competitive gymnastics, Liukin pursued his dream of opening his own gymnastics school with long time friend, Yevgeny Marchenko. While the men did not have much money to start, Liukin heard about a costumed gymnastics event with a prize of $15,000, entered and won. Liukin and Marchenko remodeled an old supermarket and on February 1st, 1994, WOGA was opened and history was made.

Valeri Liukin was first a gymnastics all-star becoming a world-renounced coach. His accomplishments on the competition floor as both gymnast and coach make him a respectable member of the gymnastics community and one of the best in the world in both fields.

Check out Liukin's first tumbling pass from the 1987 World Championships, his triple back tuck.