Nastia Liukin Opens Up | Andrew East

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with my good friend Nastia Liukin as part of my interview series where I talk to people about how they deal with unexpected life events and whether it is their career or personal life and Nastya had the kindly share some very, very personal and intimate details about some things going on in your personal life that, to my knowledge, have not been publicly spoken to date. I am very honored that Nastya felt comfortable enough to share these details with me and I want to be sure. that I'm respecting her and how I'm sharing all of this information with you and she's given me the go-ahead to post this so a couple of things before I start and then I would ask you guys a little question first and Nastya asked me to do this, I want to make sure that all parties come across in a positive light and I want to be respectful of everyone that we talk about in this interview and obviously we're going to talk from a gagging perspective, but we don't want that to put the other party down. or the perspective of the other parties at all, so keep that in mind and secondly, this is not the first time that CEA has shared about this and opened up about this and there's obviously a lot of uncertainty and fear involved. on it and so i would just ask that all your guys responses to this continue to be positive and loving and it would be greatly appreciated so without further ado let's go ahead and jump into this interview with Nastya Luca so when i fell flat on my face . and i got back up and finished the routine and had my first standing ovation in my entire career for the worst routine of my entire career that became the defining moment of my entire career because it wasn't about winning you know until then that Common crawl en In a way, I defined my personal success by winning and being the best, but when I took that dip in the big tests, I quickly realized you know that life isn't about being the best and it's not necessarily about winning. a gold medal. or being last place or a success or a failure life is about finding something you love to do and finding something you're passionate about and it's about that journey and being able to share it with the people you love but not me real lyza you know until that moment until I had a quote-unquote failure moment where I was disappointed and upset and hurt and I knew I let so many people down, but seeing that people still support me was all it took for me to be able to close this chapter of my book and start a new one wow that was absolutely beautiful sitting here chills i remember you know we've laughed at that incident in trials before yes but hearing you say it's really very powerful i think i resonate with it on a pretty deep level as far as As far as athletics just because I'd always had pretty solid success in football until I got cut from the Chiefs and I remember I didn't feel like I was qualified to have a conversation with my parents or my family because I'd let them down and there's a overwhelming feeling that you let someone down here you let someone down and once you realize you know what i am loved outside of my acting like it was oh my god it changes everything with such relief when you don't even know i think you and I can relate to a level of athleticism but it's also personally right so you know I've been through times recently in my personal life where you know I feel like you know I'm failing at something if a relationship didn't work out and you know that for me personally, you know, kind of a hurdle to get over because I tried so hard, you know and as an athlete, if something doesn't work it's basically because you know that for us as a gymnast it's very different to you in the NFL because you know your success is sometimes really dictated by someone's opinion or you know someone who says something like that you just didn't get on that list and you know for us I feel like competing trying to make an Olympic team like you just go out there and do your best for routines , you know, Sean and I knew we were, we were very lucky that we knew that if we ended up with four routines or if you met a real team like basically in the Olympic trials we were on that Olympic team whereas sometimes in life you have no control about certain situations or you know there are two people obviously involved in a relationship or in a different sport there's a whole team and there's like a whole process involved and so I think for me to have that moment that I had at the Olympic Trials I can relate to a lot of more things in my life now when things are not not going well and when you know that I feel like you said you know that you feel that you like me I don't even want to talk to your family or with you because you feel that you failed you feel that you know if you gave up or if things didn't turn out the way you expected or if you know that things just aren't meant to be sometimes and you know that for me it was really hard because really, as an athlete, I felt like not solving things or making things work, then I was a failure and so you know it was a bit of a difficult time but I feel like once you're able to say no not everything in your life just because certain things don't work out like it doesn't mean you're a failure you have to understand that you know the life life will go on and life will go on and you're not defined by these moments in your life, whether it's athletics or if it's just your personal life.

I had a few more gymnastics questions to ask you. I feel like there are some bigger topics to talk about because that's a really recent and powerful story that you have to tell and I want to share as much or as little as you're comfortable with, but honestly it's been something that to set these two stages a little bit, We mentioned that nasty Shawn and I are roommates and originally he was nasty and his fiancée, Sean and I split the apartment and things changed, right? You talked about the equipment that helped you overcome your gymnastic problems. tell me about the team and how they supported you that has helped you get through this personal struggle of yours which is probably in many ways exponentially harder than gymnastics yeah so i think going through what i've been through and the last you know, six months I kind of feel like I've been even like you said an even tougher fight than any gymnastic fight I've been through because like I said, you know at the beginning of this interview, basically everything else comes after family. and just so you know, gymnastics always came second, business always came second to me, it was always about family and my relationships, so having to go through, you know, a break up where you know you feel that all your life has discovered you.

I know and now I'm kidding with my mom but I'm like I'm almost 30 and I'm like I'm getting old love but you know it's scary because it's really starting over and you know I think I thought I thought I was done starting over I thought that after my gymnastics career was over, that would be the last time I would have to go through, you know, so many difficulties of the next chapter and start over and you know when I wanted to say no at that moment I knew you know I thought he would be the one right for the rest of my life and then you know it was like you thought basically that chapter of how to find an ironic person about the rest of your life is over and you know you found that person and you feel happy and safe and now you can plan the next chapter and live the next chapter and enjoy, you know how to do these new things and this new chapter together and obviously things didn't quite work out, but I think for me, this kind of transition, these last six months, have It's been harder than any other transition you know of early on and I'm just as so so so lucky as you know I had during the transition to gymnastics you know basically the same thing happened when I realized how important it was to trust the people in my life and not just keeping it all in and you know you and Sean have obviously been a big part of that just because I feel like we've been through a lot to have the four of us and you know it's just the three of us now and it's definitely been a challenge but I feel like you I know you, I don't know, like it's just that all of you have made me laugh all the time, you know instead of crying, and you know my parents obviously have been like I thought I saw how the extent of your greatness and their awe that you know throughout the first twenty-nine years of my life and I really didn't see it all until these last six months because they've gone beyond just showing their love and support and it's really been a challenge but at the same time , like six months later, I feel like I'm a different person than I really have been these last four years and I feel like I have no regrets at all that you know he's capable of sharing so many amazing memories with someone and I think of nothing but amazing things about him and i am so lucky that you know that the four of us got to share so many amazing adventures together and the memories like they would never like to be wasted except for you i know it is definitely an exciting time too and i think the changes must be exciting and not scary and you know when you're able to get over that fear then it really is such an exciting time but with that being said it's so important to keep trusting those people in your life that you can trust and that you know you know you're going to love in good times and bad like you have to find those people in your life who when you are going through difficult times who are still just as available and supportive in that moment as when you know you are winning the Olympic gold medal or that you are on top of the world or things in her life are great things in your life it's great it's easy to be happy together you've got to find those people in your life that you know will be there for you through the ups and downs you know this it's more of a personal note but it's amazing that you didn't tell your comeback story and you fill your face and I think you know God and the powers that prepared you for that in many ways and from my point of view you know that I I care about you deeply and I respect you and I think you have the power to change and speak to a lot of people who have had relationships that didn't work out and how they thought so I encourage you to be vulnerable and I really applaud what you're doing. again i get chills here and i feel like i fully appreciate you yeah and i think thank you that means a lot and i think it takes time you know i think it hasn't really been that way until now basically i'm kind of like ready to share plus i think everyone handles and deals with you know breakups and relationships there's no timeline that i know so you can know when you're ready to move on and but that's sort of like i want to be open and i want you to meet people so that know that when you think it's the end of the world it's not you know you're going to be okay and you know now you see it as if you really can say that and there were definitely times where I wasn't sure if that was the case and I just have to keep reminding myself that I may not be okay now but I will be and you know it's the same kind of how it helped me like it's okay if you're not okay now but you will be at some point and I don't know how I just i really am a firm believer that you know with every obstacle you have or every quote failure or disappointment you become stronger as a person and you become a better person and i think these last four years and specifically these last six months have made me the person I am today and I feel like a stronger person and a better person because of the experiences I've had and I'm really excited to get into this next chapter of my life and again like it might be scary but at the same time I'm choosing knowing that i feel like you have a choice of how you can go into things and you can go into things with fear or you can go in you know something with excitement and you know none of us know what the future holds but i think its how you go into something and that you will know set the standard and then help guide you.

You know your way. You know how you are. How are you going to drive? You know any kind of situation. You just want to see the full interview I have. an australian you can go ahead and click the link in my bio also on my youtube channel there is also a youtube version of the interview