Speaker 1: I will post this to social media at some point.
Speaker 1: Let's see if you can see that. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: yes we were at the gym. There we are in
Speaker 1: twenty ten, Nacia. I didn't realize you were smack dab
Speaker 1: off your wind and still going for more at that time,
Speaker 1: obviously wearing your signature pink with me. I was just
Speaker 1: about to say, some things don't change, like ever, thirteen
Speaker 1: years older and I still I didn't wear pink today,
Speaker 1: but I still I still like pink. Am I the
Speaker 1: greatest non gymnast that you've ever trained? Like to the
Speaker 1: point where I don't want to train any other non
Speaker 1: gymnasts ever again? Wait a Second's not That's not positive
Speaker 1: at all. Hi, I'm not doing it again. And I
Speaker 1: am a dog bomb and an Olympic gold medalist. Hello,
Speaker 1: my friends, and welcome back to another episode of Off
Speaker 1: the Beat. It's me your host, Brian Baumgartner here. Now
Speaker 1: you just got a little sneak peek from our conversation
Speaker 1: today with legendary Olympic gymnast Nastia Lutkin. Nastia has achieved
Speaker 1: everything in the world of gymnastics. Literally, She's a four
Speaker 1: time all around US national champion, a two time world
Speaker 1: champion on the balance beam, world champion on the uneven bars,
Speaker 1: and she even made history in the Beijing two thousand
Speaker 1: eight Olympics, winning five medals, including the all around gold.
Speaker 1: But more than that, she helped train me on the
Speaker 1: balance beam. True, well kind of Nastia was good enough
Speaker 1: to join me on my NBC Sports show Training for
Speaker 1: Tahoe back in and give me some personal hints about balance. Anyway,
Speaker 1: It's been a long time since I saw her thirteen
Speaker 1: years and uh, I was so excited today to dive
Speaker 1: back into her incredible journey to the Olympics, starting with
Speaker 1: her family. Listen, she truly lived the American dream. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna lie, guys. I honestly I shed a small
Speaker 1: tier during this conversation. But gymnastics it's not the only
Speaker 1: thing Nastia has mastered. Since retirement, she has become a
Speaker 1: gymnastics analyst for NBC for the Olympics, she started the
Speaker 1: Nastia Ludken Cup, and she even competed in Fox's brand
Speaker 1: new competition series Special Forces. I can't wait for you
Speaker 1: to get to know Nastia a little bit. She is
Speaker 1: delightful here. She is one of Gymnastics. No. One of
Speaker 1: the Olympics all time greats Nastia Ludkin, Bubble and squeak.
Speaker 1: I love it, Bubble and squeak on bubble and squeaker
Speaker 1: cookie every moment left over from the nutty Nastia. Hi,
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, it's been a few years. Wow, it
Speaker 1: has been a few years. I'm so excited to see
Speaker 1: you again. How are you O? I'm good. How many years?
Speaker 1: I mean it has been at least I would say
Speaker 1: between the five and ten mark, Okay, I know the answer.
Speaker 1: So what's your guest? I do um, okay, so actually
Speaker 1: it's it's more than ten. You're right, because yeah, that
Speaker 1: means I'm getting old. No, I looked it up. I
Speaker 1: was trying to find the clip. I didn't. I just
Speaker 1: used Google before. But I will share it with you
Speaker 1: right now. I will post this to social media at
Speaker 1: some point. Let's see if you can see that. Oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, Yes, we were at the gym. There we
Speaker 1: are in twenty ten, Nasia. I didn't realize you were
Speaker 1: smack dab off your win and still going for more
Speaker 1: at that time, obviously wearing your signature pink with me.
Speaker 1: I was just about to say, some things don't change,
Speaker 1: like ever ten years older, and I still like didn't
Speaker 1: wear pink today, but I still I still like pink.
Speaker 1: Am I the greatest non gymnast that you've ever trained,
Speaker 1: Like to the point where I don't want to train
Speaker 1: any other non gymnasts ever again. Wait a second, that's
Speaker 1: not positive at all. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. All right, Well,
Speaker 1: we'll get into that in a little bit. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much for coming on. I'm gonna take you back
Speaker 1: a little bit. We're gonna we're gonna learn more about well,
Speaker 1: at least you, than I did thirty years ago. It
Speaker 1: was probably twelve twelve, twelve and a half. So you
Speaker 1: were born in Russia or the Soviet Union at the time,
Speaker 1: and you moved right did you move right when the
Speaker 1: Soviet Union fell? So I was um, I was two
Speaker 1: and a half years old, so very very young. I
Speaker 1: don't I don't remember obviously those years growing up there.
Speaker 1: But you know, growing up as the only child, and
Speaker 1: my mom's the only child, and we have a very close,
Speaker 1: you know, tight knit family, and so growing up we
Speaker 1: pretty much every summer we would go back to I
Speaker 1: have four great grandparents up until basically they all forgot
Speaker 1: to watch me on TV. But when I go when
Speaker 1: the gold medal, and so that was like really special
Speaker 1: and so being able to go back and kind of
Speaker 1: like show them my medals. So yeah, I think we
Speaker 1: just it was very normal for me. It was part
Speaker 1: of who I was and it and it still is obviously,
Speaker 1: and you know, obviously we haven't been back in a
Speaker 1: little bit, but two and a half years old, like
Speaker 1: I grew up here, like you know, for me, English
Speaker 1: essentially was my first language. For my parents, it was
Speaker 1: not right. I can speak Russian, but I have like
Speaker 1: an accent when I speak in Russian as opposed to
Speaker 1: the opposite. Right, right, right? Why did they Why did
Speaker 1: they leave? And let me just say for context for
Speaker 1: people who don't know, these are high level gymnasts in
Speaker 1: the Soviet Union, competing obviously celebrated there. Why did they
Speaker 1: make the decision to come to the United States? First
Speaker 1: New Orleans and then eventually Dallas make a Marty grab
Speaker 1: by the way, oh yeah, And they were just like
Speaker 1: no English, no money, just like an infant, and they
Speaker 1: had no idea what they were doing. And they were
Speaker 1: just like, oh god, did we just make the biggest
Speaker 1: mistake of our life. Yes, moving to New Orleans a
Speaker 1: week of Martyr grad that is that is a that
Speaker 1: is a mistake. But yes, they had no idea. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and so basically exactly as you said, like they were heroes.
Speaker 1: My dad won for Olympic medals for some union, and
Speaker 1: my mom was a rhythmic gymnast and world champion, and
Speaker 1: and you know, their goal, their next goal was to
Speaker 1: coach their own athletes to becoming world an Olympic champion gymnasts.
Speaker 1: They never ever imagine or wanted it to be their
Speaker 1: own daughter. But they also you know, they wanted to
Speaker 1: build their own business and they wanted and that wasn't
Speaker 1: like that wasn't something you could do then and probably
Speaker 1: even now, I don't I don't know because like we've
Speaker 1: not obviously thought about that or even gone down that
Speaker 1: route in a for thirty years whatever. So that was
Speaker 1: part of it. And then the other half of it
Speaker 1: was to give me the best possible life that they
Speaker 1: thought that they could possibly give me, and they felt
Speaker 1: that that was going to be in the United States.
Speaker 1: Not knowing obviously, you know, they were taking a risk.
Speaker 1: They were taking a chance, as as every single person
Speaker 1: does when you move halfway across the world. But again,
Speaker 1: they had nothing. They literally didn't even have a savings account.
Speaker 1: They had pennies. And you know, I think the older
Speaker 1: I get, the more you realize, like, holy shit, that's
Speaker 1: what they did, like just not eat, like going to
Speaker 1: the bank to ask for a loan, like without even
Speaker 1: speaking the language. Like you know, like I can't even
Speaker 1: imagine our process, and like, yes, it's like my parents,
Speaker 1: So I like, you know, I'm a little bit more biased,
Speaker 1: but still like when I take when I remove myself
Speaker 1: from that situation and think like putting myself in that
Speaker 1: and like going to another country and trying to do that,
Speaker 1: it's crazy to think that. But they had this dream
Speaker 1: and and they wanted it so badly, and so you
Speaker 1: know what I have realized, obviously much later on in life,
Speaker 1: my dad and I are the same person. And so
Speaker 1: it's like, don't you dare tell us we can't do something,
Speaker 1: because then we will like make sure we do it
Speaker 1: plus more. And yeah, and I think like they just
Speaker 1: were so passionate about the sport and they wanted to
Speaker 1: give back to you know, the next generation into you know,
Speaker 1: gymnastics is such an interesting sport like you can't once
Speaker 1: you're done, you're done. Like it's not like you can
Speaker 1: like jump in the nothing against any other sport. But
Speaker 1: it's not like you can jump in the pool and
Speaker 1: just leisurely you know, like yeah, you're not gonna be
Speaker 1: going to your Olympic speed. But like gymnastics, you can't
Speaker 1: just get on the beam and do your Olympic beam
Speaker 1: routine like ever again. And so this knowledge essentially is built,
Speaker 1: you know, for over twenty years, and then it's like
Speaker 1: then what do you do with it? You know, if
Speaker 1: you can't carry that on? So yeah, that was kind
Speaker 1: of like that was their purpose, I guess, um, and
Speaker 1: I'd like to think they did a pretty darn good job.
Speaker 1: And so to be clear, their dream was to open
Speaker 1: a world class gymnastics club and to train future Olympic gymnasts.
Speaker 1: Was there and this I apolologize, this is like naive
Speaker 1: or kind of a stupid question potentially, But were they
Speaker 1: able to leave because the wall went down? We actually, yeah,
Speaker 1: we we still have dual citizenship, and um, like it
Speaker 1: was like not like no, we did not escape, We
Speaker 1: did not flee, like and that's why I think like
Speaker 1: we went back every summer up until I was started
Speaker 1: like competing on the national team, and then my competition
Speaker 1: season was in the summer, and then winter there's miserable.
Speaker 1: So it was kind of like, okay, maybe our family
Speaker 1: can come visit us. Um uh so yeah, that's kind
Speaker 1: of what we did. But it was never hard feelings
Speaker 1: or we were always accepted back. Like one of my
Speaker 1: favorite stories is actually from the Olympics, and we were
Speaker 1: in the rotation in the all around finals with you know,
Speaker 1: with the Russian gymnast and her coaches, and obviously we've
Speaker 1: known them, you know for years and years and years,
Speaker 1: and I believe, um, if my stats are correct, but
Speaker 1: I believe this was like the first time in history
Speaker 1: that you know, the USSR or Russia did not win
Speaker 1: a medal in like gymnastics at the Olympics. And so
Speaker 1: when I won, I remember like them coming up to
Speaker 1: me and saying like you might be wearing a differently
Speaker 1: it's hard and a different flag, but like we're still
Speaker 1: like proud and you want for us, And I was
Speaker 1: like thanks, because I just want to keep peace with everybody.
Speaker 1: But I have, like, you know, a different red, white
Speaker 1: and blue one right now, right, right, right, that's fascinating
Speaker 1: because I you know, I remember the stories of gymnasts
Speaker 1: having to flee and be you know, escape in the
Speaker 1: middle of the night on a boat. Yeah, right, to
Speaker 1: get out. But that's interesting that at that point you left,
Speaker 1: but that they welcomed you back and had positive things
Speaker 1: to say to you. That's that's very cool. Yeah. Apparently
Speaker 1: your dad joked that the reason he marriage your mom
Speaker 1: was to create the perfect gymnast. Oh my god, that's um.
Speaker 1: First of all, like talking about my parents like that weird,
Speaker 1: but also it's funny because he was obviously into her,
Speaker 1: and my mom was like absolutely not. My mom's taller
Speaker 1: than my dad, and so she was just like no,
Speaker 1: are you kidding? Like, but they all trained together, like
Speaker 1: at the centralized training you know center um outside of Moscow,
Speaker 1: and ended up being my dad's now business partner who
Speaker 1: was like my second dad. He was very close to
Speaker 1: my mom, like as friends, and so he kind of
Speaker 1: like made it happen, which is like makes perfect sense
Speaker 1: because you know, now we're just like literally family. Like
Speaker 1: I've known him since the day I was born, and
Speaker 1: he actually coached in two thousands. Four are one of
Speaker 1: my teammates Carly Patterson. He coached her to win gold.
Speaker 1: So so it's like it was a really cool like moment.
Speaker 1: I guess you could say of like, you know, we
Speaker 1: we went to New Orleans altogether and then you know,
Speaker 1: they literally lived the American dream, like that was what
Speaker 1: they dreamed about doing, was coming to this country and
Speaker 1: the people gave them, slash us this incredible opportunity. And
Speaker 1: not to speak on behalf of them, but I know,
Speaker 1: you know, we all feel this way. But it's like
Speaker 1: when you sit down and you take a moment and
Speaker 1: you think and like this is really cool. They moved
Speaker 1: to a country and they didn't speak a language, and
Speaker 1: they were not guaranteed anything. They were not guaranteed success.
Speaker 1: Like they built Fish Jim. It was a grocery store.
Speaker 1: They literally built it with their own hands because they
Speaker 1: didn't have money and couldn't at the time, couldn't afford
Speaker 1: any employees or you know, any construction worker or anything.
Speaker 1: So I think, like that to me is like I
Speaker 1: always take myself back to that because it's like nothing
Speaker 1: real at the core is handed to you. You have
Speaker 1: to work your butt off. And yeah they did. Ye.
Speaker 1: I mean I joked that they wanted to create the
Speaker 1: perfect gymnast, but allegedly they really they wanted to train
Speaker 1: Olympic gymnast, but but not not me, not you. So
Speaker 1: why not you? First off, why not you? They didn't
Speaker 1: want that for you. Two things, the pressure like I'm
Speaker 1: the only child and your mom is a rhythmic world
Speaker 1: champion gymnast, your dad is an Olympic and like you're
Speaker 1: doing it, so it's like you better win or else,
Speaker 1: you know, I never felt I never felt that way ever,
Speaker 1: Like I literally thought it was the coolest thing in
Speaker 1: the world that my parents did what I wanted to do.
Speaker 1: I wanted to grow up to be just like them,
Speaker 1: And so for me it was more like, Wow, I
Speaker 1: have like the biggest greatest mentors right in front of me,
Speaker 1: and not only do I you know, can I talk
Speaker 1: to them, can I ask some questions whatever, But they're
Speaker 1: also guiding me and coaching me to that you know,
Speaker 1: if if I want that, that's what they would do.
Speaker 1: And then I think the other thing was just as
Speaker 1: the only child, they wanted you want everything to be
Speaker 1: easy and perfect and for them to be happy, Like
Speaker 1: that's what they wanted for me. But they also really
Speaker 1: really instilled like the importance of finding something that you're
Speaker 1: passionate about and finding something that you love. And for
Speaker 1: me right away that was domestics. And they were like
Speaker 1: really like you godn't find something else. And my mom
Speaker 1: was My mom tried so hard. She took me to
Speaker 1: piano lessons every week and I would try every single
Speaker 1: time and I was like, I'm not going back, and yeah,
Speaker 1: it was just not for me. And you know, it
Speaker 1: was always like a mutual understanding that we're going to
Speaker 1: help you the best way that we can if that's
Speaker 1: what you want, Like we we already did it. We
Speaker 1: don't want this, you know, like we don't need it
Speaker 1: for ourselves, like this is for you. So I know
Speaker 1: it's hard for people to like grasp and understand that,
Speaker 1: especially like you know, we see them all the time,
Speaker 1: but stage parents or whatever you want to and yeah,
Speaker 1: they were the complete opposite. Well, this to me kind
Speaker 1: of proves it. You started with other coaches, right and
Speaker 1: not them, And now was this because they were trying
Speaker 1: to let you go your own path to start to
Speaker 1: find out if they were trying to push me away,
Speaker 1: like they were just like trying to turn their head
Speaker 1: a little bit in the gym and like pretend I
Speaker 1: wasn't you know, I wasn't good because obviously I also
Speaker 1: had some good genes and a god given talent. And
Speaker 1: they immediately kind of said, well, we can't take that
Speaker 1: away from her, like that wouldn't be fair. So they
Speaker 1: were like, okay, just like go have fun, go play,
Speaker 1: like go to your classes or whatever. And I was
Speaker 1: there all day unless I was like at school, and
Speaker 1: so I would start just trying to copy and mimic
Speaker 1: the older girl like what my parents were teaching them.
Speaker 1: And they noticed on the side I was doing it
Speaker 1: better myself without a coach like then, like and they
Speaker 1: were just like, okay, we have no choice. And what
Speaker 1: happened was and this is like such a fluke mistake.
Speaker 1: I slipped, like my hand on the bar with a
Speaker 1: different coach who by the way, still with us, you know,
Speaker 1: still at the gym, like like I love him so much,
Speaker 1: but I got a black eye because like I like
Speaker 1: hit my my base on the bar. And my dad
Speaker 1: had nothing to do with him. It was more a dad,
Speaker 1: you know, the dad instinct coming out, and he said
Speaker 1: that's it, Like, if you're going to do gymnastics, I'm
Speaker 1: going to be your coach only because not because I
Speaker 1: know better or I am better, but because I want
Speaker 1: like your safety in the sense like to be in
Speaker 1: my control, you know. Yeah, And that was it, like literally,
Speaker 1: and I was like okay, like I mean, I was,
Speaker 1: I don't know, gosh, like eight nine years eight nine
Speaker 1: years old, you know. And also it was to spend
Speaker 1: more time together, to be completely honest, I was going
Speaker 1: to public school. They were working twelve fourteen hour days
Speaker 1: at the time I was going to sleep. My dad
Speaker 1: was still at the gym, you know, wrapping things up,
Speaker 1: And so it became our bonding kind of like moment.
Speaker 1: And to achieve like your lifelong dream at the time,
Speaker 1: lifelong with one of your best friends essentially, like I
Speaker 1: literally wanted to be just like him. I idolized him.
Speaker 1: I respect Like, yes, my teenager years were you know,
Speaker 1: a little little little tough when when you have two
Speaker 1: stubborn perfectionist I guess you could say, but I don't
Speaker 1: regret a single moment, like deep down, it was you know,
Speaker 1: at the end of the day. And he says this
Speaker 1: still to his athletes. Now, gymnastics is such a short
Speaker 1: portion of your life. You have the rest of your
Speaker 1: life to live, taking care of your body and safety
Speaker 1: and all of that. He says, I don't want you
Speaker 1: to be, you know, feeling like you can't even like
Speaker 1: God willing you have kids. One day you can't go
Speaker 1: play with your kids because this hurts or that hurts.
Speaker 1: And and it was the same with education. You know,
Speaker 1: he just instilled the importance of getting a degree. And
Speaker 1: you know, you never know how far your gymnastics will
Speaker 1: take you about an education will stick with you for
Speaker 1: the rest of your life. So it was the life
Speaker 1: lessons I think too that he taught me. But also
Speaker 1: the sport as well. I have said many times as
Speaker 1: I know that you know, I'm a big sports fan
Speaker 1: and have had the opportunity to attend a lot of events.
Speaker 1: Football is my love. Baseball, basketball, hockey my greatest sports.
Speaker 1: And I'm bringing it up now because this is about
Speaker 1: in the timeline that we're talking that I ever witnessed was.
Speaker 1: I'm from Atlanta and I saw the Olympics in nine
Speaker 1: and was sitting right at the end of the vault
Speaker 1: when Carrie Struggle. I was there. I was there. I
Speaker 1: watched it. I saw her ankle. It looked like snap
Speaker 1: into I felt the crowd everyone saw it was the
Speaker 1: craziest thing I've ever seen. And then yeah, and then
Speaker 1: to see her her landed. Now at this point you're
Speaker 1: obviously younger, but you're watching it your fowing. That was
Speaker 1: the first Olympics for me that I was glued to
Speaker 1: the TV every night, Like I remember being like I
Speaker 1: want to do that, you know, like look how cool
Speaker 1: that looks. They're walking into Georgia Dome and and you
Speaker 1: know the little American flags every like people are chanting USA.
Speaker 1: And that was for some reason, like I still get
Speaker 1: kind of like goose bumps now thinking about it, because
Speaker 1: it was you could feel it, and maybe I didn't.
Speaker 1: I don't think I necessarily understood it then. I mean
Speaker 1: I was seven years old, but you almost feel everything
Speaker 1: has come to that moment, your whole your whole entire life.
Speaker 1: That's right that it feels like that way in gymnastics,
Speaker 1: right like because it's so next year, you don't get
Speaker 1: it next year, you know. And again nothing against I
Speaker 1: have so much respect for all athletes, all sports, but
Speaker 1: it's like you didn't make the super Bowl. Try again,
Speaker 1: you know, and again nothing nothing against it, but it
Speaker 1: I remember standing in front of the beam the all
Speaker 1: around finals at the Olympics, four inches wide, looking down
Speaker 1: the beam, looking to my right, seeing my dad. And
Speaker 1: he always does the same thing when he's like super nervous.
Speaker 1: He like does this with the shirt like for no reason.
Speaker 1: That's like his like nervous kind of like tick and yeah.
Speaker 1: And I was just like, okay, well, everything is normal.
Speaker 1: He's doing that, Like I'm like, the beam is still
Speaker 1: four inches wide. And I kind of did for a
Speaker 1: split second what like everyone says, like not to do.
Speaker 1: But in my head, I remember thinking, literally, this is
Speaker 1: a once in a lifetime opportunity. You are never going
Speaker 1: to be halfway through the all around finals in the lead,
Speaker 1: going to win, like your life could change forever if
Speaker 1: you just don't fall off. And and then I was like,
Speaker 1: oh god, oh god, oh god. I'm like, snap out
Speaker 1: of it, snap out of it. And you consciously thought yes,
Speaker 1: and again I know that, and I I literally anytime
Speaker 1: anyone asks for advice or a little kids, I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: don't think what you don't like want to happen. You
Speaker 1: have to think what you you know you're gonna stay
Speaker 1: on me if you're gonna say you're smell and here
Speaker 1: I am like in that moment, I remember, and and
Speaker 1: no matter what, like no matter where you looked, because
Speaker 1: what I try to do was treated like any other competition,
Speaker 1: even though it's not like it's a once in a life.
Speaker 1: But those five Olympic rings are everywhere, like the toilet,
Speaker 1: the chalk bucket, you know, it's everything. So I would
Speaker 1: be like, oh, look there, maybe like you'll forget that
Speaker 1: you're at the Olympic Game. And it was impossible and
Speaker 1: and I think, to be completely honest, obviously the physical
Speaker 1: training my dad was, it was truly a master mind planner.
Speaker 1: He planned sixty five days so back backtrack basically, so
Speaker 1: August fifteen I won, So three sixty five days up
Speaker 1: until that moment to peak and have the best day
Speaker 1: of my life on that day. That wasn't luck, That
Speaker 1: wasn't by chance. That was all you know, It was
Speaker 1: all planned. And I think physically I knew I was
Speaker 1: the most repaired I had ever been in my entire life.
Speaker 1: But it and and so was everybody else, And so
Speaker 1: it is now a mental game. It is who can
Speaker 1: now do you know? What? I what I almost like
Speaker 1: leaned into, but I caught myself, and I was like, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: but yeah, it truly is. Mentally it's four inches wide
Speaker 1: the way of your in higher country and nation, let
Speaker 1: alone your teammates and your family and all that your
Speaker 1: country is on your shoulders. Like the pressure. It's so
Speaker 1: dangerous too. It's so dangerous. And honestly, as my dad
Speaker 1: was so happy when I was done, just so happy,
Speaker 1: like he just wants to, you know, have a very
Speaker 1: normal life. And they came over last night and played
Speaker 1: with the dog like it's just you know, we will
Speaker 1: always have that. But I think we're very grateful that
Speaker 1: that's behind us, because it truly is, you know, it
Speaker 1: is extremely dangerous. And that is why he wanted to
Speaker 1: coach me. Was you know, safety at age nine, you
Speaker 1: win the whatever, this the level six Texas state championships. Now,
Speaker 1: at what point, for real, at what age are you like,
Speaker 1: I am gonna be a world class gymnast? I mean,
Speaker 1: are you talking six? Are you talking eight? Are you
Speaker 1: talking so like seriously or like what I thought most
Speaker 1: I don't know that two very different things, like I
Speaker 1: think in that moment, I was like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: like this is what it feels like to win I
Speaker 1: want to win bigger and better things. And so that
Speaker 1: was a and I felt on top of the world.
Speaker 1: Right when you're winning the state Texas championships, Yeah, you
Speaker 1: feel like you just won the Olympics. And I never
Speaker 1: I never did it to win. But obviously, you know,
Speaker 1: as any human, like when you spend any amount of
Speaker 1: time doing something and you know pays off, like you
Speaker 1: enjoy you know, you enjoy winning the award, the trophy,
Speaker 1: the medal, whatever it is. And I think that was
Speaker 1: the moment where I things kind of just like flipped
Speaker 1: in my head where I thought, Okay, maybe I can
Speaker 1: be good and meanwhile I was like ten years away
Speaker 1: from even remotely being right. Okay, right, but you the
Speaker 1: moment that you started seriously training is age what? So
Speaker 1: is it before that? Is it before winning or is
Speaker 1: it still after that fifth grade? Aren't you? Like? Okay?
Speaker 1: So I think it was. I think it was right
Speaker 1: after that, which it also had nothing, It didn't really
Speaker 1: have anything to do with that. It was after that level.
Speaker 1: It's like, I don't want to get too technical, but
Speaker 1: after that level, basically the next level is like a
Speaker 1: big step up essentially, and so it's like you have
Speaker 1: to you just have to spend you know, more time
Speaker 1: in the gym. And so that's when I started training
Speaker 1: seven hours a day, six days a week, seven hours
Speaker 1: a day, six days a week. Fifth grade and you're
Speaker 1: still going to school, yes, so I yeah, I went
Speaker 1: to public school up until that moment. And unfortunately my
Speaker 1: school that I was going to, they did not excuse
Speaker 1: absences for gymnastics competitions or you know anything like it
Speaker 1: would be you playing hookeey is the same thing as
Speaker 1: you going to the World Championships and you know, competing
Speaker 1: for your country. So it was just not ago. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I started going to a private school and we would
Speaker 1: train eight to twelve in the morning, go to school
Speaker 1: twelve thirty or three thirty, and then train again four
Speaker 1: to seven, and then go home, shower, eat in her homework,
Speaker 1: do it all over again. Unreal. You make the junior
Speaker 1: national team. What age is this now? Twelve? Oh dear lord?
Speaker 1: So this is yeah right, yeah, so that makes sense.
Speaker 1: So you have like a couple of years where this
Speaker 1: goes and then you make the national the junior national team, right,
Speaker 1: But like the level of gymnastics from level six to
Speaker 1: love to like making the national team is like significantly,
Speaker 1: just normally you don't do that in a few years. Basically,
Speaker 1: I didn't think that was I didn't know what was normal.
Speaker 1: I just try this, try, and you know, when you're young,
Speaker 1: you're so fearless. Nothing nothing phased me. If my dad
Speaker 1: told me to do something, I trusted him as my coach,
Speaker 1: but even more so as my had and so I
Speaker 1: knew he would never tell me to do something if
Speaker 1: he knew I couldn't do it, or you know, he
Speaker 1: would always spot us or whatever. But it was like
Speaker 1: a very Taylor Swift fearless moment, like but like a
Speaker 1: whole a whole decade of it. Just like then all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, you get older and you're just like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I could literally die like this. It's dangerous. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I feel that way watching anything like going back, and
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, why did I think that that was like
Speaker 1: fun and safe? I mean it was, but now being older,
Speaker 1: thinking what it would take for me to do some
Speaker 1: of those things, it's just yeah, right in two thousand four,
Speaker 1: this is four years before you compete. You're just a
Speaker 1: little too young to compete at the Athens Olympics in
Speaker 1: two thousand four, but you mentioned her before. Carly Patterson,
Speaker 1: who also trained with at the gym with with your family,
Speaker 1: went on to claim the all around title four years before.
Speaker 1: How was that for you? Was it hard to watch
Speaker 1: and not be doing it at that point yourself? Like?
Speaker 1: Was that difficult? Or was that inspiring? Or was that?
Speaker 1: Did that help prepare you for four years later? What
Speaker 1: was that experience? Like? That moment for me made me
Speaker 1: like fully believed that I could do it, because okay,
Speaker 1: that makes sense. It was before Carly, it was merely written.
Speaker 1: It had been twenty years since an American gymnast had
Speaker 1: won the all around gold medal at the Olympics, and
Speaker 1: so it was kind of like, oh, the Americans will
Speaker 1: never you know, they're never gonna win again basically, and
Speaker 1: Carly really put the US back on the map like
Speaker 1: since since then essentially, And I remember it just made
Speaker 1: it feel real. It made it feel possible. Somebody that
Speaker 1: you train literally right next to, you know, our lockers
Speaker 1: were next to each other. Like it just felt like,
Speaker 1: if she can do it, then I can do it too.
Speaker 1: Four years later. It was never difficult for me because
Speaker 1: I'm just had I come. I was not ready, you know,
Speaker 1: I was not physically ready, I was not mentally ready.
Speaker 1: I was like, I was still so young in two
Speaker 1: thousand and eight, but I was not mature enough to
Speaker 1: you know, even understand or handle the pressure. Then. Yes,
Speaker 1: I had competed and you know, done well up until then,
Speaker 1: but the Olympics is, as I said, like the the
Speaker 1: amount of pressure and the expectations and the stress and
Speaker 1: all of that, and I think, Okay, maybe I would
Speaker 1: have gone and been part of the team. And I
Speaker 1: don't know. I'm such a firm believer and everything happens
Speaker 1: for a reason, and I just that moment watching her,
Speaker 1: I just remember thinking, you just have four years and
Speaker 1: then again, like anything could happen. You know, you can
Speaker 1: row your ankle at the Olympic village, and that has
Speaker 1: happened to athletes, and they're already at the Olympic. Like
Speaker 1: you're not guaranteed a spot obviously, But I do have
Speaker 1: to say after she won, we have probably like eight
Speaker 1: high like beams across. I definitely switched over to like
Speaker 1: start training on the beam that she always trained on
Speaker 1: because I was like, this, oh yeah, for sure. I
Speaker 1: was like, this is for sure going to be like lucky.
Speaker 1: And there it worked. Right. No one has ever said
Speaker 1: this before, including yourself, But I feel like between two
Speaker 1: thousand and four and two thousand and eight, really the
Speaker 1: key to your maturation, the key to the secret sauce
Speaker 1: that enabled you to win, was you spend little time
Speaker 1: at my alma mater SMU. Hail to the Red and
Speaker 1: the Blue. I mean, how how much did that? Literally,
Speaker 1: you have an SMU cup over there with my water
Speaker 1: in it. I've got something somewhere too. Oh my god.
Speaker 1: So my boyfriend actually went to business school there. Really, yeah,
Speaker 1: how much time do you spend? How much time do
Speaker 1: you there? It is not much, not not enough to
Speaker 1: have This is not mine, this is my boyfriend's. But
Speaker 1: it gave you some maturity. I think it really helped
Speaker 1: season you. It gave you a well rounded nous, a posture,
Speaker 1: a poise. So it's so funny because growing up in Dallas,
Speaker 1: like I've only applied to one school, only applied to
Speaker 1: s m U. When I got in, I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: let's go, like I'm never leaving Dallas. And it's funny
Speaker 1: because I've been back since and I you know, did
Speaker 1: a speech, and have you been back many times? I
Speaker 1: wish I could have graduated from there. It wasn't the
Speaker 1: right place that I'm sorry. It was the right place,
Speaker 1: it was not the right time. The right time. Yes,
Speaker 1: you leave to begin preparing and you mentioned anything can happen.
Speaker 1: In two thousands six, you have an ankle entry. Were
Speaker 1: you afraid that that was going to derail your chances? Um?
Speaker 1: I wasn't until all the sudden because in my mind
Speaker 1: I thought so I showed up to the World Championships
Speaker 1: in a wheelchair. I couldn't walk because I was still
Speaker 1: put on the team. Um My incredible doctor here, Dr
Speaker 1: Coburn Dallas, we called him, sent him all like the
Speaker 1: scans and he was just like, it's the bone chip.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm gonna have to operate on it when
Speaker 1: you get back. It's you're not going to damage it.
Speaker 1: More So I went in a wheelchair just in one
Speaker 1: event and then and it was just the record, like
Speaker 1: I am not a patient person, you know, rushing the process.
Speaker 1: And so this injury now lingered into you know, a
Speaker 1: whole year. So the year before the Olympics, when you're
Speaker 1: really supposed to be, you know, gearing up to being
Speaker 1: the best. I had the worst competien season in my
Speaker 1: entire life. You know, at our national championships we have
Speaker 1: eight eight four events. Twice out of eight routines, I
Speaker 1: fell six times. And it's like, and you think you're
Speaker 1: gonna make the Olympic team and win a gold medal.
Speaker 1: Like I understand fully why everyone was writing me off,
Speaker 1: but at the same time it that was the first
Speaker 1: time in my life, I think, in career where I
Speaker 1: actually started, you know, listening to people that I didn't
Speaker 1: know or that didn't matter, that weren't in the gym,
Speaker 1: and they started influencing how I felt and how I
Speaker 1: was trying. Like I was so up in arms thinking
Speaker 1: that all of a sudden I was the favorite and
Speaker 1: everyone loved me. And you have, you know, one bad
Speaker 1: season and now you're too old at eighteen, you're two injured.
Speaker 1: You know, there's girls that are just better than you,
Speaker 1: younger than you, stronger than you, quicker than you, all
Speaker 1: of these things, and that I think that was the
Speaker 1: moment where I quickly learned to like horse in a
Speaker 1: horse you know, in a horse race, like put the
Speaker 1: blinders on, block out the noise, and those people don't matter. Yeah,
Speaker 1: good for you, you make the team. How did that
Speaker 1: feel making past the trials. Well, we technically were named
Speaker 1: Sean and I, but we weren't really. It was for TV. Essentially,
Speaker 1: we still had to go do a second trials, not
Speaker 1: on TV, and at a training camp, and you know,
Speaker 1: we had to show complete readiness and the four other
Speaker 1: girls were named to the team, and we could have
Speaker 1: if we showed up not prepared or not ready, we
Speaker 1: could have been removed. So honestly, it was kind of
Speaker 1: put a check by it. Move on. Also, and I
Speaker 1: didn't know this, but you're not technically an Olympian until
Speaker 1: you step foot on the competition floor at the Olympic
Speaker 1: Games and compete for the first time, which makes sense,
Speaker 1: makes total sense. But in the moment, you know, we've
Speaker 1: never been, we don't know, and so you kind of
Speaker 1: feel like your dream of becoming Olympian has come true
Speaker 1: and it's like no, no, no no, you're still like two
Speaker 1: months away. But no, it was definitely the Olympic Trials.
Speaker 1: We're ten times more nerve wracking, more pressure filled. It
Speaker 1: was worse than the Olympics. It was do you have
Speaker 1: one bad competition and that's it, like your whole life,
Speaker 1: and once you get to the Olympics, you're you don't
Speaker 1: want to mess up, obviously, but there's a sense of
Speaker 1: taking a deep breath of okay, I'm at least on
Speaker 1: the plane, like I'm I'm on my way to Beijing,
Speaker 1: you know. And yeah, I think it was just being
Speaker 1: able to now be there together, not having to compete
Speaker 1: against you know, each other for spots, and that it
Speaker 1: was it was hard being a teenage girl and you're
Speaker 1: competing against your friend. It was it was hard. You
Speaker 1: have said that the morning of the meet you woke
Speaker 1: up and you knew you were going to ruin. What
Speaker 1: what was it within you that gave you that? So,
Speaker 1: I mean a few things. I gets us. I read
Speaker 1: a book The Secret, and I'm big on it's so cliche,
Speaker 1: but thinking positive. But to a whole different level, or
Speaker 1: like a much deeper level, I guess. And I think
Speaker 1: it was a combination of that. With My dad sat
Speaker 1: me down with a piece of like literally like a
Speaker 1: teared up piece of paper in his office at the
Speaker 1: gym in the middle of practice a few months before
Speaker 1: Olympic trials and said like, come in here real quick.
Speaker 1: I just want to show you something. And he said,
Speaker 1: you know, calculated all my scores four scores and he said,
Speaker 1: you've gotten these scores before, right, And I was just like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I've gotten better. And he was like, that's my point.
Speaker 1: You don't even have to. I'm just trying to show
Speaker 1: you you're just normal, not the most amazing. You know,
Speaker 1: four performances of your entire life, but if you can
Speaker 1: just have four solid routines, there is no way that
Speaker 1: you will not win. And when he said that, I
Speaker 1: was like, oh what really, I just had never ever
Speaker 1: taken and and yes, of course gymnastics is subjective and
Speaker 1: you could get a judge that whatever. But if all
Speaker 1: is fair, you know, and everything is whatever you compare
Speaker 1: the scores and it's math. And so when he said that,
Speaker 1: there was a ginormous shift of Okay, now, don't worry
Speaker 1: about anybody else, keep training day by day, like taking whatever,
Speaker 1: and just go and enjoy the experience and interest. Laying
Speaker 1: on your feet, you were doing one more of the
Speaker 1: same exact being routines that you have probably done well
Speaker 1: over three thousand times at this point. One just one.
Speaker 1: So what you stressed out about that? Just I love
Speaker 1: that you said just land on your feet, although what
Speaker 1: you're talking that's hard to do. She's like, oh, you
Speaker 1: just go on, just on your do the hardest thing
Speaker 1: that you can do. But just do that and you're fine. No, honestly,
Speaker 1: that is that is genius, Like that is genius coaching
Speaker 1: right there, because that I mean, of course it makes
Speaker 1: total sense. But what it does is it doesn't. What
Speaker 1: it says to you is you don't have to be
Speaker 1: You don't have to be anything that you are extraordinary.
Speaker 1: You are extraor' you're extraordinary already, but you don't have
Speaker 1: to add some other extraordinariness on top of it to
Speaker 1: make it better. Every day self, nothing better, nothing worse.
Speaker 1: Just be you. Yeah, one of the greatest that's ever
Speaker 1: done it, but just to be that. But don't you
Speaker 1: don't have to be any better than that. No, I'm
Speaker 1: saying I'm making joke, but I'm serious, Like that's genius.
Speaker 1: I think it truly. It was that moment that I
Speaker 1: was then just like on cruise control. But I have
Speaker 1: to say, for the first time in my entire life,
Speaker 1: so I had this dream the night before the competition,
Speaker 1: and I never dreamed about gymnastics, which is weird because
Speaker 1: you're doing it seven hours a day. But I had
Speaker 1: the dream as if it was the all around finals
Speaker 1: and I was in my pink leotard. I was going
Speaker 1: through each of my events and I stuck my vault
Speaker 1: landing and that was first, and I knew it was
Speaker 1: a dream because I that never happens. And I went
Speaker 1: on to bars, took a step on my landing. This
Speaker 1: is all my dream. Stuck my beam, dissmount, finished my Florentine,
Speaker 1: and I'm coming down the steps, you know, off of
Speaker 1: the podium, and my dad's right there, and I like,
Speaker 1: go give him a hug to celebrate that I had won.
Speaker 1: And I literally wake up like this, like my hands
Speaker 1: in the air, air the air. And then I'm like
Speaker 1: and I look next to me and Sean and I
Speaker 1: roommates and she has sound asleep, and I'm like, I've
Speaker 1: never had a dream in my entire life that felt
Speaker 1: so real and so as hard as it was to
Speaker 1: fall back asleep for a few hours, when I woke up,
Speaker 1: it was like, oh cool, Okay, got it, Okay, go
Speaker 1: to your hair or go get breakfast. Like I was
Speaker 1: just kind of just going through the motions, not in
Speaker 1: a negative way, but I knew it was like I
Speaker 1: knew what was gonna happen. And the funniest part, and
Speaker 1: that this is when I really knew it was going
Speaker 1: to happen, was in the warm ups for our first
Speaker 1: event on vault. I landed on my feet and I
Speaker 1: took one step on my landing and my dad said, good, good,
Speaker 1: do the exact same thing. Just try to stick it.
Speaker 1: And I started laughing, and I think, like, for a moment,
Speaker 1: he's kind of like, work, okay, this thing of Olympics.
Speaker 1: Let's just be a little serious, like what is so funny?
Speaker 1: And I then kind of snap back into it because
Speaker 1: I almost said like, yeah, I know I am going
Speaker 1: to because that is like I already like I dream that.
Speaker 1: And as soon and and I stuck it a few
Speaker 1: minutes later, and as soon as that moment happened, I
Speaker 1: was like, okay, to the point where my dad I
Speaker 1: I every time I compete, I get so nervous, like
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm gonna throw up. I would tell
Speaker 1: my dad every time, like, oh my god, I'm so naious,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw up. And he's like he's like, it's okay,
Speaker 1: You're you're fine, You're not going to throw up. And
Speaker 1: I'm like, I feel like I am this time and
Speaker 1: like again, he's dealt with this for you know, twenty
Speaker 1: plus years now at this point, and for the first
Speaker 1: time in my life, I did not feel like I
Speaker 1: was going to throw up. I was I would just sit,
Speaker 1: like literally sit in the chair like this and just
Speaker 1: watch all my competitors, and my dad will come up
Speaker 1: to me and say, um, are you good. I think
Speaker 1: you should maybe get up and like stretch like you know,
Speaker 1: And I was like, oh, okay, whatever, like whatever you say,
Speaker 1: you know, Like I was just so like z and
Speaker 1: that is the first and last time I've ever experienced
Speaker 1: anything like that. And then going down the stairs, gave
Speaker 1: my dad a hug and I was like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: this's bill familiar. Gonna make sure I like stay there
Speaker 1: for a few extra seconds. But it was a moment
Speaker 1: of knowing that you truly, like the mind and the
Speaker 1: body obviously when they're in sync, like it's such a
Speaker 1: powerful thing, and you truly can do what you want
Speaker 1: to do, no matter what anyone tells you. You mentioned
Speaker 1: your dad, it's your dream. It's also his dream. He
Speaker 1: leaves the Soviet Union with nothing, comes here to build
Speaker 1: this gym, to train a gymnast, and I mean, it
Speaker 1: makes me slightly emotional to even say it. But now
Speaker 1: it's happened, and it's happened with his daughter. What is
Speaker 1: that moment? Have you guys talked? What was that moment
Speaker 1: for him? And for your mom too? But so my
Speaker 1: mom was not My mom was in Beijing, but she
Speaker 1: was not in the arena. She gets too nervous. I
Speaker 1: tried to call her to tell her that I had
Speaker 1: just won the Olympic Games with like five cameras in
Speaker 1: my face. She didn't answer, so I texted her and
Speaker 1: we still like the screenshot somewhere, but it's all I said,
Speaker 1: because they were like rushing me. And I said, because
Speaker 1: this is what she always said, I don't care. I
Speaker 1: love you. I don't care how what the placement is.
Speaker 1: I just want to let me know if like it's done,
Speaker 1: you're safe whatever. So I said, Hi, Mom, carried, I
Speaker 1: won period, I love you. And then my dad finally
Speaker 1: got ahold of her and she like rushed over and
Speaker 1: I believe made it back in time for the word ceremony.
Speaker 1: So for my dad, this is the first time in
Speaker 1: my entire life that I had ever seen him cry
Speaker 1: all the way across the arena. Like all the way across,
Speaker 1: and I just felt my whole life I wanted to
Speaker 1: be like him. I wanted to make him proud. I
Speaker 1: want Yes, I did it for myself, but seeing him
Speaker 1: with tears in his eyes, that's why I started crying. Yes,
Speaker 1: I was so proud, and you know, thinking about all
Speaker 1: those moments that I had to you know, the obstacles,
Speaker 1: everything that I had to go through to get to
Speaker 1: that moment. But it was him. It was exactly twenty
Speaker 1: years to that day when he competed in the all around.
Speaker 1: FI knows he got the silver medal by oh one.
Speaker 1: Twenty years later, he has daught you know, it was
Speaker 1: and I knew that, like I knew this this whole time,
Speaker 1: And that's what he always says. For twenty years. Don't
Speaker 1: get me wrong, winning a silver at the Olympics is amazing,
Speaker 1: but silver in fourth place are the hardest to swallow
Speaker 1: because it's just like and not to mention when you're
Speaker 1: like literally like a pinky toe nail, like clothes, like
Speaker 1: you can't even So for twenty years, he's lived with
Speaker 1: that in the back of his mind. You know, not
Speaker 1: every day obviously, you move on, but it's you know,
Speaker 1: every Olympics comes and you're just like and we'd always
Speaker 1: joke and I'm like, well you still got two gold medals,
Speaker 1: It's okay, and he was just like, you know, we
Speaker 1: we just start perfectionist obviously, but seeing him in that moment,
Speaker 1: you know, him saying, you're in a limp, big champion,
Speaker 1: and that was always a title that he had that
Speaker 1: I also wanted because he had it, you know, just
Speaker 1: I wanted to be like him, So it was it
Speaker 1: was a very special moment. And to share that the
Speaker 1: first person that I saw, you know, waiting for the scores,
Speaker 1: Like you can't replicate those moments, you know, It's it's
Speaker 1: been gosh, however many over ten years obviously, thirteen four whatever,
Speaker 1: and I can still bring myself back to that, and
Speaker 1: I don't do it often, but I can still bring
Speaker 1: myself back to that moment and that feeling and even
Speaker 1: you know him look like we look at each other
Speaker 1: when my my score comes up. But then there's still
Speaker 1: another competitor to go, so it's not the final standings,
Speaker 1: but we know that it's not possible that you know,
Speaker 1: somebody else would you know, bump me. And it was
Speaker 1: just this like there's this moment of just us looking
Speaker 1: at each other and he I can already see he's
Speaker 1: like trying not to cry. And I was like, no, no,
Speaker 1: it's not it's not the final thing, like in my
Speaker 1: mind of like, it's not Otober, but yeah, it was.
Speaker 1: It was really a special, special moment that also just
Speaker 1: makes you realize you really can't do anything that you
Speaker 1: set your mind to, like put your horse blinders on
Speaker 1: and keep chugging along. Five time Olympic medalist, voted Sportswoman
Speaker 1: of the Year in two thousand and eight by the
Speaker 1: US Olympic Committee, the International Gymnastics Federation Athlete of the Year.
Speaker 1: You're also on a wheaties box. Now do you have
Speaker 1: the wheaties box? Oh? My god. That is so. I
Speaker 1: literally was up until like two o'clock, three o'clock in
Speaker 1: the morning in this my studio room, and there was
Speaker 1: a pile of like random clothes and stuff, and I
Speaker 1: started hanging and under it was a flat lag wheaties box.
Speaker 1: And it's literally right there. And I was like, if
Speaker 1: somebody were to walk in or see this, they'd be like,
Speaker 1: I want to see it right now. It's right next
Speaker 1: to you. I mean, it's kind of sad honestly, because
Speaker 1: what is what is it? Oh? Wait, it's a flat
Speaker 1: Oh it's it's a flat box. Do you have a
Speaker 1: full box of wheaties somewhere? I don't know. You just
Speaker 1: have the You just have the thing. You haven't framed it.
Speaker 1: What are you doing? Okay, So again there's a reason
Speaker 1: because but also this is sad. It's just kind of
Speaker 1: like on the floor like it's good. No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1: I can I tell you something. This is not a joke.
Speaker 1: And I, by the way, I don't have a wheaties box,
Speaker 1: but I have. I just moved, so I can tell
Speaker 1: you this. I have things like that, not wheaties boxes. No,
Speaker 1: I'm not saying are the same. But yeah, just like
Speaker 1: you know, my key to the city from Scranton from
Speaker 1: blah blah blah. It's I mean, like, why is it
Speaker 1: that frame? I love it? It's the coolest thing ever.
Speaker 1: Why is it still? Like yeah, And I'm looking around
Speaker 1: because it's somewhere right around here, not on my wall,
Speaker 1: so you know what. I've thought that too, And I
Speaker 1: I don't know if my parents did this on purpose.
Speaker 1: I have yet to ask them, which like every time
Speaker 1: I like say this, I mean to ask them and
Speaker 1: I forget. But growing up, I never saw a single
Speaker 1: one of their medals, a single one of anything. If
Speaker 1: you walk into our home here where I essentially grew
Speaker 1: up my teenagers, you would never know who lived there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you would see like a few photos, you know, by
Speaker 1: the fireplace, family photos. There is not one Olympic metal
Speaker 1: want to like nothing, and I don't. Again, I don't
Speaker 1: don't know if this was on purpose, but for me,
Speaker 1: that was the greatest thing that they could have done.
Speaker 1: It was not in my face every day. And when
Speaker 1: people are like, how did you not feel the pressure,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, because I grew up like that. And
Speaker 1: you know, my dad's medals were in a ball, like
Speaker 1: literally the ribbons all tingle like in the basement like somewhere.
Speaker 1: Mine are in like a ball at their house in
Speaker 1: a safe. Now all the medals are in the safe.
Speaker 1: But you don't. You don't have you don't have your displayed. No,
Speaker 1: and I never will. Do you ever bring them out? Uh? No?
Speaker 1: Only if I have, you know something, and someone requests
Speaker 1: me to have them for a shoot or something. I
Speaker 1: think what I realized was, yes, we're proud, like but
Speaker 1: we we know what we have. We don't need to
Speaker 1: see it every day. We're not going to forget that
Speaker 1: we did that. And then it becomes, oh, are you
Speaker 1: doing that for other people? I don't know, and I
Speaker 1: fully support other people doing that. It's just like a
Speaker 1: personal thing. I think it's like they don't define who
Speaker 1: we are as people, and so you know, I'd rather
Speaker 1: have those. Yeah, I'm gonna like save this blot leg
Speaker 1: like not gonna I'm literally so the only thing I have,
Speaker 1: like in this office, I'll show you. But my uncle,
Speaker 1: my dad's brother, recently passed, but there were these like
Speaker 1: it's like a ring essentially, and my mom bought five
Speaker 1: of them and then they're like wooden, and then he
Speaker 1: cut two of them down and so now they've they've
Speaker 1: gone with me, so they're like way up there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that's my subtle moment. And also it's become you know,
Speaker 1: sentimental because he's no longer with us. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: just I think for us, it was going home to
Speaker 1: a place of like clear your mind, not like getting
Speaker 1: home from a bad day at training, to like this
Speaker 1: being in your faith. You know, No, that's really interesting,
Speaker 1: particularly from your parents, I will say here's what I
Speaker 1: think you should do. I'm gonna you can do whatever
Speaker 1: you want, obviously, but I'm gonna love your advice. Here's
Speaker 1: what I think you should do because I think, right,
Speaker 1: there's a fine line, right, And I'll just say, if
Speaker 1: you're a guy who wants super Bowl and I'm not
Speaker 1: judging anyone, but if you're wearing your super Bowl ring
Speaker 1: every single day, this is yeah. But I think for you,
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna say this because I've been around a
Speaker 1: couple of other Olympians. I think occasionally you're invited to
Speaker 1: an event or you do something, I think you bring it.
Speaker 1: I think you bring it because let me say why,
Speaker 1: Because then it's not about you, it's about sharing with them.
Speaker 1: Oh I never thought about it that way. Just just
Speaker 1: think about it. Next time I see you, you're gonna
Speaker 1: you're gonna about, You're gonna come You're gonna come up
Speaker 1: and you're gonna be like, here it is. I wear
Speaker 1: it every day now. No, But I think it's it's
Speaker 1: something to think about. I love that perspective. I think
Speaker 1: it's it's just something to think about because I think, yeah,
Speaker 1: it becomes about you. Don't want it to become about you,
Speaker 1: and I can I can hear that from you. Other
Speaker 1: people would enjoy seeing it and again, and so then
Speaker 1: thank you for making me feel very selfish. Now, no, no,
Speaker 1: I'm just kidding. I'm not saying that, but I I
Speaker 1: totally understand what you're saying. And I think you know,
Speaker 1: it's the same thing when you have something you don't
Speaker 1: want it to feel like you're, you know, showing it
Speaker 1: off whatever you don't have it. Yeah, but I've never
Speaker 1: thought about it in that way. And I do have
Speaker 1: to say the amount of times I've been in a
Speaker 1: situation or somewhere an event or whatever and people are like,
Speaker 1: do you have your whole medal? And I'm like no,
Speaker 1: So you know, I've never thought yeah, But thank you
Speaker 1: for sharing that, because it'll be my newest accessory in
Speaker 1: my You retire, you're three years old. We've talked about
Speaker 1: it a lot. You retire so young. But since that
Speaker 1: time much has been done and accomplished by you, not
Speaker 1: the least of which the Nastia Cup Next year year, um,
Speaker 1: this year, this year, Well, we're okay, this year, the
Speaker 1: next time it happens. Yes, you're making me. Now, you're
Speaker 1: making specific the next competition will be why did you
Speaker 1: decide to start what is BECAU now one of the
Speaker 1: most prestigious gymnastics competition out there. So basically because of
Speaker 1: what you just said with the metal, you know, to
Speaker 1: give somebody else that that chance, that that you know,
Speaker 1: to see it whatever, to inspire and give the next
Speaker 1: generation their Olympic moment, you know, their moment of being
Speaker 1: one of the best of the best in the best
Speaker 1: country in in the gymnastic world. And it's so surreal
Speaker 1: to see, you know, on people's on these athletes bios
Speaker 1: or you know, a lot of them are in college
Speaker 1: now and and one of the hot like three bullets
Speaker 1: is you know, Nazis and Cup qualifier and that to
Speaker 1: me is like wait what, Like it's so meaningful to me,
Speaker 1: Like I have not I have not made a single penny.
Speaker 1: This is not about money. This is truly about trying
Speaker 1: to give these girls, this next generation, that moment because
Speaker 1: some might, some may get it right, some may go
Speaker 1: on to getting that, but most won't because the field
Speaker 1: is so small and there's so many incredible gymnasts. And
Speaker 1: I try to spend as much time with that, like
Speaker 1: real time with them that weekend because they view you
Speaker 1: know me, you like, as you know, they follow on
Speaker 1: social media or whatever, and it's like it's almost like
Speaker 1: you're not a real human and you know you don't
Speaker 1: have you know, one year, I was going through a
Speaker 1: breakup literally a week before and I like told them,
Speaker 1: and I was like, don't tweet about it, you know,
Speaker 1: but like, um, you know, I'm just kidding. But it
Speaker 1: was like, honestly, like I want to be in my
Speaker 1: bed right now, Like I don't want, you know, but
Speaker 1: I you guys are giving me, you know, the life
Speaker 1: I get. Like, so I think just being able to
Speaker 1: be vulnerable, being able to be real where you know,
Speaker 1: we live in this era of social media and this
Speaker 1: next generation has literally that's all they know. And yeah,
Speaker 1: it's about gymnastics as much as it is just about
Speaker 1: life and humanizing each other and making them feel special.
Speaker 1: You have transitioned well into the world of entertainment, obviously
Speaker 1: Dancing with the Stars, the voice of NBC Gymnastics during
Speaker 1: the Olympics, among many other things. I want to ask
Speaker 1: you briefly about your relationship to the late Kobe Bryant,
Speaker 1: who you've called mentor. First of all, how did you
Speaker 1: become so close and what was it that he did
Speaker 1: for you that inspired you. So we both competed in Beijing,
Speaker 1: and I met him for the first time there very briefly,
Speaker 1: and I again kind of going back to my cup
Speaker 1: and you know, my goals and dreams and the things
Speaker 1: outside of that, even that you know I'm working on
Speaker 1: and I want to do. But I remember it was
Speaker 1: one of the sps kind of blinking on exactly the
Speaker 1: year but he won. It was right after he retired,
Speaker 1: and he won the Lifetime Achievement Award, and I remember
Speaker 1: just watching him on the stage in the audience thing,
Speaker 1: and he the one thing specifically, he was like, I
Speaker 1: hope this isn't the last time that I'm on this stage.
Speaker 1: I hope the next time I'm on the stage is
Speaker 1: winning an award to inspire the next generation. And it
Speaker 1: was just this moment of wow, like you know, I
Speaker 1: had met him, I wasn't close with him then, but
Speaker 1: I felt so just like aligned on like missions. And
Speaker 1: so I literally think I like messaged him on Twitter.
Speaker 1: I didn't have his like phone number or anything at
Speaker 1: the time, and and I just said, like COVID congratulation.
Speaker 1: I know, like, I know you're busy abla law, like
Speaker 1: I'd love to just pick your brain because I have
Speaker 1: this idea. Like that's my whatever. Long story short, He
Speaker 1: responded back literally within minutes. Here's my number, here's my email.
Speaker 1: Let's let's get together. I want to talk. And he
Speaker 1: had a way of just wanting to help everybody and
Speaker 1: amongst so many things. But what he, you know, really
Speaker 1: instilled in me was that stop putting yourself in that box.
Speaker 1: Stop putting yourself in the box of being the girl
Speaker 1: in the pink guitar with the matching pink scruncheet, because
Speaker 1: you are way more than just that. Yes, that's something
Speaker 1: you did, be proud of that, but that's that doesn't
Speaker 1: define who you are. It was just that it was
Speaker 1: a moment of him showing me through his own career essentially,
Speaker 1: you know. And and he did it in a very
Speaker 1: like not copy way, but he was like, look at me,
Speaker 1: like nobody's everyone told me to sit down and keep
Speaker 1: shooting hoops, that I couldn't do this, and and look
Speaker 1: I did it at times ten and I couldn't do this,
Speaker 1: and I like got nominated and then I want and
Speaker 1: he goes, watch me, I'm gonna win next week and
Speaker 1: It was just like this moment of like any time
Speaker 1: I would pick up the phone or text or call him,
Speaker 1: he would answer right away, like how are you, how's
Speaker 1: it going? What are you up to? Like tell me
Speaker 1: how I can help? He would, you know, he was
Speaker 1: writing a book and he goes, okay, so Genassis competition,
Speaker 1: are you allowed to have like rap music or is
Speaker 1: it just classical? Like he just was so like in
Speaker 1: the details, and I just like laugh hearing it, and
Speaker 1: I was like, honestly, I mean I guess you could.
Speaker 1: I guess you canna have it, but like, could you
Speaker 1: see me having that? Like I mean, put more of
Speaker 1: like the classical time. But he just he truly cared.
Speaker 1: So I think that's what I remember, you know most
Speaker 1: was like please please, please please, like don't lose that
Speaker 1: mission and that purpose and that passion because there needs
Speaker 1: to be more of that. He was just like such
Speaker 1: an incredible mentor and made me believe in myself and
Speaker 1: you know, made me believe that I truly was more
Speaker 1: than the gymnast. Right. It was the same way my
Speaker 1: dad flipped my mentality of there's no way you're not
Speaker 1: going to win if you just do X, Y and
Speaker 1: Z Kobe helped me flip. You're not the gymnast. You
Speaker 1: did gymnastics right, and so when you don't define yourself
Speaker 1: by one thing or one accomplishment, it changes everything. Amazing.
Speaker 1: I could talk to you all day. You have so
Speaker 1: much going on. We haven't even touched on your fashion.
Speaker 1: We haven't touched on Special Force. Oh I do have
Speaker 1: to add kew about Special Forces. How did that go
Speaker 1: for you? Was it? Did that bring you back to
Speaker 1: your gym? Did you train? No? I did not train.
Speaker 1: I literally well I didn't know I did. I found
Speaker 1: out very very late in the game basically, And then
Speaker 1: you know, my mentality was, if I start training now,
Speaker 1: I'm going to be sore, I'm going to be exhausted.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna like I literally had less than a week,
Speaker 1: so why would I like I was so far out
Speaker 1: of my Olympic shape like I was. It was too late,
Speaker 1: So I kind of thought, I know, I'm not going
Speaker 1: to be the strongest whatever, but mentally I need to
Speaker 1: go into this like mentally in a good place. And
Speaker 1: for me, that's like not being sore, not being exhausted
Speaker 1: like whatever. And there was a moment on the like
Speaker 1: the tight road or the cable crossing. Yes that I
Speaker 1: literally I thought I was on the beam in Beijing.
Speaker 1: It like snapped back to that I was falling, like
Speaker 1: I almost fell seven ish times. And right as I
Speaker 1: was like completely like bench over backwards or forward or whatever,
Speaker 1: I would in my mind just tell myself like the
Speaker 1: gold medal is on the line, and I would just
Speaker 1: be like and then yeah, I Like when I finally
Speaker 1: got across, they were like, how did you do that?
Speaker 1: And I was like, I don't know if my arms
Speaker 1: were on fire, but it was mind over matter and mean,
Speaker 1: it was crazy. It was you know, it's the show
Speaker 1: doesn't even begin to even show half of how everything
Speaker 1: it was. But I do have to say, like such
Speaker 1: an incredible group of people that I never thought i'd
Speaker 1: call all, like, we're all family and friends when you
Speaker 1: when you go through something like that, and I kind
Speaker 1: of relate it to my Olympic teammates, and you know,
Speaker 1: you have that bond for the rest of your life
Speaker 1: when you're going through that. So it was glad I
Speaker 1: did it. Would do it all over again. Great experience,
Speaker 1: not quite for me, like I prefer, you know, not
Speaker 1: to have forty pounds of backpack on me at all times.
Speaker 1: It was great and looking forward to like watching you
Speaker 1: know the rest of the season. Yeah. You you're incredible.
Speaker 1: Your story is amazing, Your dedication to our future is great,
Speaker 1: Your work ethic is unparalleled. Your family, your father and
Speaker 1: mother's decision and the sacrifices they made for their dream.
Speaker 1: It really is the American dream. I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: be cheesy, but that is the absolute definition of it.
Speaker 1: I will talk to you anytime, anywhere. It's so good
Speaker 1: to see you again as your favorite non Olympic trainee. Um, well, hey,
Speaker 1: let's not let's not let's not years. Let's not wait
Speaker 1: thirteen more years before we do it again. All right,
Speaker 1: maybe maybe we don't like we skip the training part
Speaker 1: this time. Okay, fair enough, we give me at the gym,
Speaker 1: but doesn't mean we have to train, right, that's right.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you so much, Nastia, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: This was so great. We are not going to go
Speaker 1: another thirteen years before we see each other again. Thank
Speaker 1: you for coming on the podcast. I look forward to
Speaker 1: seeing you compete once again, but this time one. Special
Speaker 1: Forces listeners have a wonderful Tuesday or Wednesday or whatever
Speaker 1: day it is. You're listening to this, I'm going to
Speaker 1: see you next week for another episode of Off the Beat.
Speaker 1: Have a great week, everybody. Off the Beat is hosted
Speaker 1: an executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive
Speaker 1: producer Lang Lee. Our senior producer is Diego Tapia. Our
Speaker 1: producers are Liz Hayes, Hannah Harris, and Emily Carr. Our
Speaker 1: talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary, and our intern is
Speaker 1: Sammy Cats. Our theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed by
Speaker 1: the one and Only Creed bretton wo