As the Nastia Liukin Cup prepares for its 14th edition, the event's namesake reflects: "These are the moments you do it for."
Plus, Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles are tied in the NCAA all-around standings ahead of week eight competition, and a look back at Romania on the balance beam from Sydney 2000.
Artistic Gymnastics
With the 14th annual Nastia Liukin Cup set to take centre stage Friday (24 February) evening, the event’s namesake, Beijing 2008 Olympic gymnastics all-around gold medallist Nastia Liukin of Team USA, is particularly proud of one particular set of winners in the event’s past: 2019’s senior and junior winners Makarri Doggette and Gabby Gladieux, respectively.
While the duo are not the most most accomplished in the event's history - past participants include 2012 Olympic gold medallist Gabby Douglas and 2017 world all-around champion Morgan Hurd - the Nastia Liukin Cup gave them something that might just mean even more: friendship.
“Shoutout to @NastiaLiukin for my best friend,” Doggette wrote in a post last month, featuring her and Gladieux.
Tonight, as the yearly event showcases another crop of the United States’ best Level 10 gymnasts, Doggette and Gladieux will be together once again as members of the University of Alabama women’s gymnastics team that is set to face off with Louisiana State University.
“These are the moments that you do it for and these are the girls you do it for,” Liukin told Olympics.com in January. “I've always said, if I can help inspire one person, if I can bring one good moment into someone's life, I feel like I've served my purpose and my mission.
“So, seeing that, that … has led these two incredible young women into each other's lives as best friends,” Liukin continued. “Like, I don't know. It's hard to honestly put that into words.”
Fans around the world can watch the 2023 Nastia Liukin Cup on the USA Gymnastics YouTube channel. Competition is set to begin at 7pm Eastern time (midnight GMT/UTC).
Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles lead national all-around standings as NCAA competition heads into week 8
Tokyo 2020 Olympians Jade Carey, the Olympic floor exercise gold medallist, and Jordan Chiles, team silver medallist, sit atop the individual all-around standings after seven weeks of competition North American collegiate competition. The duo are tied with a national qualifying (NQS) average of 39.705. UCLA freshman Selena Harris (39.650) is third, with LSU’s Haleigh Bryant (39.640) and Oklahoma’s Jordan Bowers (39.625) rounding out the top five.
Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee has only competed in the all-around at five competitions, meaning she doesn’t have the required six scores for an NQS ranking.
The top three team standings remain unchanged with Oklahoma (198.105), Florida (197.780), and Michigan (197.690) holding the top spots. Utah (197.575) and UCLA (197.530) complete the top five, nationally.
Week eight competition features a busy Friday night (24 Februrary) with 13 of the top 15-ranked teams set to compete. Below is a schedule of the top 15 teams and how to watch the action in the US, all times Eastern.
- Friday, 24 February
- 6pm, No. 12 Kentucky at No. 2 Florida, SEC Network
- 7:30pm, No. 14 Georgia at No. 7 Auburn, SEC Network
- 7:30pm, No. 10 Denver at Iowa State
- 8pm, No. 8 LSU at No. 9 Alabama, SEC Network+
- 8pm, No. 6 Cal at No. 4 Utah, Pac-12 Network
- 8pm, Big 5 (No. 3 Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Penn State), Big Ten Network
- 8pm, West Virginia at No. 1 Oklahoma
- 9pm, No. 15 Missouri at Arkansas, SEC Network
- 10pm, No. 11 Oregon State at Stanford, Pac-12 Network
- Saturday, 25 February
- 1pm, Big 5 (Minnesota, Michigan State, No. 13 Ohio State, Nebraska, Rutgers), Big Ten Network
- Sunday, 26 February
- 3pm, No. 5 UCLA at Arizona, Pac-12 Network
From the vault…
This week, we take a look back at Romania on the balance beam from the women’s team final at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. The squad was led by Andreea Raducan on the apparatus with a 9.837. The team took the gold medal overall.