We all know that winning at sports isn’t a simple matter of family trees. There’s much more to winning than natural ability, and as the saying goes “hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard”. But it certainly doesn’t hurt to be the child of a champion! Here are a few women’s artistic gymnasts who have certainly inherited their parent’s knack for gymnastics excellence…
Nastia Liukin and her father Valeri Liukin wearing their Olympic medalsNastia Liukin
Probably the most well known descendent of a successful gymnast is Anastasia Liukin. “Nastia”, as she is known, is the daughter of men’s gymnast Valeri Liukin who won Olympic gold with the former Soviet Union team, as well as individual gold on the high bar, and silver in the all-around and parallel bars competitions. After the family moved to America, Valeri opened his own gym in Texas, giving Nastia the opportunity to start classes at the age of three. It must have been a proud father-and-coach-in-one moment for Valeri to see his daughter excel at the 2008 Olympic Games. Nastia stood on the Olympic podium at 5 out of 6 medal ceremonies, which put her on par with Mary Lou Retton and Shannon Miller for the most gymnastics medals won by an American in a single Olympic Games. She won silver with the U.S. team, as well as on Bars and Beam, plus a bronze for her Floor routine. But best of all, she improved upon her father’s 1988 Olympic finish by one place to win the all-around gold (he probably didn’t mind).
Sydney Johnson Sharpf
Speaking of the 1988 Olympics, while Valeri Liukin was competing for the Soviet Union men’s team, Brandy Johnson was the highest placed competitor for America in the women’s competition. The following year Brandy won the Vault silver at the 1989 World Championships, and finished in 7th place all around which was a new record for an American gymnast at a World Championships. She later became a gymnastics judge, coach and stuntwoman, starring in several Hollywood movies. Brandy’s daughter Sydney will turn 16 this year, and is already following in the footsteps of her mother’s achievements. Sydney finished 6th at the national championships in 2015 and is a member of the American Junior team.
Ava Luciana Silivaș-Harper
Ava Silivaș-Harper is the daughter of Daniela Silivaș, who made her international debut at the 1985 World Championships. With an incredible beam routine, Daniela scored a perfect 10 for Romania, beginning an historic career in which she cumulated 22 more perfect 10’s, and a total of 7 World Championships titles and 3 Olympic titles. She now lives in the United States with her family and her daughter Ava is a gymnast you will want to keep an eye out for, as she is a promising future star.
Sabrina Voinea
Another incredible Romanian gymnast, with a daughter bound to be a future star, is Camelia Voinea. Camelia was a teammate of Daniela Silivaș at the 1987 World Championships where both gymnasts played a key role in securing the team’s gold medal by scoring consecutive perfect 10’s on the Floor! On top of this, Voinea won silver at the 1985 World Championships and 1988 Olympics and was known for her unique Floor routine with break dancing in the choreography. Her daughter Sabrina is bursting with talent and artistic flare, and at only 9 years old is a force to be reckoned with. Look out world.
McKenna Kelley
McKenna Kelley sprang onto television screens this year, after joining the LSU “tigers” for the Division 1 American NCAA collegiate gymnastics season. Her power and personality shone through especially on the Floor where she scored a series of 9.9’s. Fans are certainly excited to follow McKenna’s gymnastics journey, as she continues the legacy of her mother. Who is her mother? None other than “America’s sweetheart” herself, the iconic 1984 Olympic all around Champion- the very first Women’s Olympic Champion America ever had in fact- Mary Lou Retton.
Jeana Rice and Ashleigh Gnat
Joan Moore Gnat (neé Moore Rice) had retired from competing before Mary Lou Retton’s Olympic success, but was a member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic Team and earned a total of 11 national championship gold medals in her competitive lifetime. Two of her daughters have demonstrated their likeness to her as a gymnast, namely Jeana Rice-Helms and Ashleigh Gnat. Older daughter Jeana was crowned 2004 all-around national champion while she was a university student-athlete at Alabama, and Ashleigh is a current member of the LSU squad who has scored six perfect 10’s so far!
Sasha Tsikhanovich
Natalia Laschenova is known for her contribution to the 1988 Soviet Union Olympic gold medal, as well as for her all around silver medal at the 1989 World Championships. Like Valeri Liukin, this 1988 Soviet Union Olympian also moved to America and now has a Russian-American daughter: Sasha Tsikhanovich. Unsurprisingly, Sasha has seen her share of gymnastics success. In 2013 she dominated the Division 2 Collegiate American National Championships, winning the all around gold. The most touching part of Natalia and Sasha’s story however, has to be Sasha’s tribute to her mother on the Floor exercise. Sasha performed a floor routine to the choreography that her mother had performed at the 1989 World Championships. Watch it here:
Did I miss anyone? It’s always fun to see the joy of competitive gymnastics passed down a generation. Let me know your thoughts in a comment, or tweet us at @zonegymnastics or me at @jempin515!
All the best until next time,
