Valeri Viktorovich Liukin (Russian: Валерий Викторович Люкин; born 17 December 1966 in Aktyubinsk, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union) is a Kazakh-American retired artistic gymnast currently working as a gymnastics coach. Representing the former Soviet Union, Liukin was the 1988 Olympic champion in the team competition and individually on the horizontal bar, and Olympic silver medalist in the all-around and the parallel bars.
Liukin was the first man to do a triple back flip on floor and both a layout Tkatchev and a Jaeger with full twist on high bar.[2] He also has one of the most difficult skills in men's artistic gymnastics named after him, the triple back (tucked) somersault.
Liukin began gymnastics when he was 7 years old. He moved to Moscow to join the Soviet Junior National team,[8] where he made his international debut at the 1983 Friendship Cup.[9]
Senior
Liukin on a 1987 Soviet stamp
At the 1987 European Championships in Moscow, he won gold medals in the all-around, on the horizontal bar, and in the floor exercise where he was the first gymnast to perform a triple back somersault.[9] He also won the silver medal on the still rings and the bronze on the vault.[10] At the 1987 World Championships in Rotterdam, he won the team competition with the Soviet Union.[11][12] At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Liukin won the gold medal in the team competition and was the co-champion on the horizontal bar with fellow Soviet gymnast Vladimir Artemov. Liukin won the silver medal in the all-around and on the parallel bars.[13] At the 1991 World Championships in Indianapolis, he again was a member of the champion Soviet team in the team competition. He won the bronze medal in the all-around behind teammates Grigory Misutin and Vitaly Scherbo.[14]
Valeri Liukin spotting for his daughter, Nastia, during the 2008 Summer Olympics
Liukin coached the USA's second consecutive (and different) all around Olympic champion, his daughter, Nastia Liukin, to the 2008 Summer Olympics.[17] In addition, Nastia contributed to Team USA's silver medal finish in the team competition. She also earned silver on uneven bars, silver on balance beam, and bronze in the floor exercise.[18]
Notable gymnasts trained by Liukin include 2010 National Champion and 6-time world medalist Rebecca Bross as well as 2011 junior National champion and 2013 American Cup champion Katelyn Ohashi. Bross placed second in the all-around competition at the World Championships in London 2009 and teammate Ivana Hong placed third in the beam competition. However, Rebecca Bross and Nastia Liukin both failed to qualify for the London 2012Olympic team. This resulted in Liukin's retirement from international and senior competition. Ohashi was too young to meet the eligibility criteria to compete in the Olympics.
Several gymnasts trained by Liukin, including Megan Marenghi, Katelyn Ohashi and Vanessa Atler, have come forward and accused Liukin of repeatedly shaming them about their weight even as young adolescents, leading several of them to develop eating disorders and depression.[23] In 2022, Liukin was under investigation by the United States Center for SafeSport for allegedly verbally and psychologically abusing athletes and pressuring them to train or compete with broken bones or while ill.[24][25][26]
Personal life
He married Anna Kotchneva, a 1987 World Champion rhythmic gymnast, while still competing himself. Their daughter, Nastia Liukin, was born in Moscow in 1989. In 1992, Liukin moved to the United States and began a coaching career. Liukin originally settled in New Orleans, but later moved to Plano, Texas.[27]
^"広島アジア大会 － 1994年" [Hiroshima Asian Games – 1994 Men's Results]. Gymnastics Japan (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 9 August 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
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