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VALERI LIUKIN
Valeri Viktorovich Liukin (born December 17, 1966, Aktyubinsk, Kazakh SSR)) is a world class former
gymnast for the Soviet Union. He was a 1988 Olympics gold medalist and the first man to do a triple back flip on floor
and both a layout reverse hect and a Jaeger with full twist on high bar. Liukin began gymnastics when he was 7 and moved
to Moscow to join the Soviet Junior National team. His rise in the ranks was consistent and his world debut came at the
1985 Friendship Cup.
At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Liukin was the gold medalist in the horizontal bar and the Soviet team
won the team competition. In addition to his two golds, Liukin was the silver medalist in the parallel bars and All-Around.
He medaled at each of the World Championships between 1987 and 1991 and was a member of the USSR National Team until
the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Once his gymnastics career was over, he turned to coaching. He was the International
Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2004.
Currently, Liukin and his wife Anna (a former World medalist in rhythmic gymnastics) live in Plano, Texas.
They coach their daughter Nastia Liukin, the 2005 and 2006 US National Champion,
as well as several other elite gymnasts. The gym he owns and coaches at is the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA).
For more information, visit his
profile page on the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique website.
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