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| Travel to London 2012 with the specialists |
www.london-olympiad.com
At Spyns we have been getting a lot of requests for Gymnastic tours with most clients buying the 7-Day Closing Ceremony package that starts on August 7th and runs until August 13th. There are a large number of Olympic Gymnastic sessions throughout the games. Here is a quick overview for you:
- Gymnastics – Artistic Jul 28th – Aug 7th
- Gymnastics – Rhythmic Aug 9th – Aug 12th
- Gymnastics - Trampoline Aug 3rd and 4th
The Closing Ceremony is on the evening of August 12th at 7:30 pm. Our tours have been impeccably planned and have the following highlights: stay in a 5-star luxury hotel in central London; guides on call but not in your hair; send off dinner at Chef Gordon Ramsay’s famous restaurant Maze; Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor Castle day-trip; London theatre tickets; Private Buckingham Palace tour; VIP access to London’s major sites (Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and the Churchill War Rooms). If you would like more information/detailed itineraries on our luxury 5, 7, and 10-Day tours feel free to contact me at henry@london-olympiad.com.
She has become America's sweetheart, albeit with a touch of borscht.
Nastia Liukin is on what is perhaps an unprecedented run of popularity following her five-medal haul from the gymnastics competition at the Beijing Olympics. Almost three years after winning the all-around title, she remains in high demand.
"No, I didn't expect anything like this," she said over lunch Sunday. "It's been three years. London (Olympics) is next year. Usually the year after the Olympics there is a lot of hype. But this? I've been very fortunate."
Liukin, who resides in Texas, was in town to participate in the Susan G. Komen Twin Cities Race for the Cure on Mother's Day. It's one of several causes she does her best to support. She also is here to help promote the 2011 Visa Championships, which will be at the Xcel Energy Center in August.
When she isn't traveling for a good cause she's designing gymnastics apparel, guest starring on TV shows, modeling for magazine covers and working with USA Gymnastics, among other things. Oh, and she's still training. Liukin hasn't ruled out defending her all-around title in London next summer. But she hasn't said she would compete, either.
This is a major topic of discussion in Olympic circles: Will she or won't she? Liukin last competed in 2009 before declaring she needed a break from competition. That announcement received a tremendous amount of media attention but did nothing to curtail her popularity.
"I'm just
taking it day by day," she said. "Like any athlete, it's hard to make that decision. You can't really top what happened in Beijing. But at the same time, you don't do gymnastics just for the medals. It's the journey. You have to have the determination because nothing can make you train seven hours a day if you don't have that determination."
Seven hours a day? Is that all? I'm sure her dad has told her stories about his training days as a member of the Soviet Union Olympic team. Her father, Valeri Liukin, won two gold and two silver medals at the 1988 Games. Her mother, Anna Kotchneva, won gold in rhythmic gymnastics at the 1987 World Championships.
I'll bet they can tell a few tales:
In Soviet Union we no can afford balance beam. We do handstand on back of ox, 25 hours a day.
"Yes, my dad always tells me I have it better than I think," Liukin said with a laugh. "The Soviet Union was so strong in gymnastics back then. If you weren't at your best, there were five people just as good as you waiting to jump in."
No pommel horse. We jump over babushka.
"We train 'only seven hours.' They had three training sessions a day starting at 6:30," Liukin continued. "So they were up at 5 a.m. And when my dad was very young he had to move away to live with his coach. So, yes, I am very fortunate."
Valeri Liukin moved his family to the U.S. in 1992, when Nastia was just two. He and his wife never pushed their daughter toward gymnastics. But she hung around their studio and really took to the sport. And it has paid off. Her five medals in Beijing tied Shannon Miller and Mary Lou Retton for most by a U.S. gymnast in one Olympics. Liukin's nine medals overall in world events ties Miller.
All those medals are safely tucked away in suburban Dallas.
"They are in a safe at my parents' house," she said. "We have a lot of people coming in and out of the house. Not that we don't trust them. But we don't take them out too often. Recently, we took all nine out for a photo shoot."
Liukin and teammate Shawn Johnson were a charismatic duo in Beijing and brought a lot of attention to the sport. Johnson, too, has remained very visible since the 2008 Games. She suffered a torn ACL while skiing in 2010, but has announced her intention of training with the goal of competing in London in 2012.
Liukin isn't so sure. She has so many projects in the works that it could be tough for her to put them on the back burner and make that all-out commitment.
"The determination is still there," she said. "I'll always be involved with gymnastics. I wouldn't be where I am without USA Gymnastics behind me. And the fans, too. I have a lot of opportunities that came from the Olympics. I just don't know what is going to happen."
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1.888.825.4720 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. www.spyns.com.
At Spyns we have been getting a lot of requests for Gymnastic tours with most clients buying the 7-Day Closing Ceremony package that starts on August 7th and runs until August 13th. There are a large number of Olympic Gymnastic sessions throughout the games. Here is a quick overview for you:
- Gymnastics – Artistic Jul 28th – Aug 7th
- Gymnastics – Rhythmic Aug 9th – Aug 12th
- Gymnastics - Trampoline Aug 3rd and 4th
The Closing Ceremony is on the evening of August 12th at 7:30 pm. Our tours have been impeccably planned and have the following highlights: stay in a 5-star luxury hotel in central London; guides on call but not in your hair; send off dinner at Chef Gordon Ramsay’s famous restaurant Maze; Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor Castle day-trip; London theatre tickets; Private Buckingham Palace tour; VIP access to London’s major sites (Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and the Churchill War Rooms). If you would like more information/detailed itineraries on our luxury 5, 7, and 10-Day tours feel free to contact me at henry@london-olympiad.com.
She has become America's sweetheart, albeit with a touch of borscht.
Nastia Liukin is on what is perhaps an unprecedented run of popularity following her five-medal haul from the gymnastics competition at the Beijing Olympics. Almost three years after winning the all-around title, she remains in high demand.
"No, I didn't expect anything like this," she said over lunch Sunday. "It's been three years. London (Olympics) is next year. Usually the year after the Olympics there is a lot of hype. But this? I've been very fortunate."
Liukin, who resides in Texas, was in town to participate in the Susan G. Komen Twin Cities Race for the Cure on Mother's Day. It's one of several causes she does her best to support. She also is here to help promote the 2011 Visa Championships, which will be at the Xcel Energy Center in August.
When she isn't traveling for a good cause she's designing gymnastics apparel, guest starring on TV shows, modeling for magazine covers and working with USA Gymnastics, among other things. Oh, and she's still training. Liukin hasn't ruled out defending her all-around title in London next summer. But she hasn't said she would compete, either.
This is a major topic of discussion in Olympic circles: Will she or won't she? Liukin last competed in 2009 before declaring she needed a break from competition. That announcement received a tremendous amount of media attention but did nothing to curtail her popularity.
"I'm just
taking it day by day," she said. "Like any athlete, it's hard to make that decision. You can't really top what happened in Beijing. But at the same time, you don't do gymnastics just for the medals. It's the journey. You have to have the determination because nothing can make you train seven hours a day if you don't have that determination."
Seven hours a day? Is that all? I'm sure her dad has told her stories about his training days as a member of the Soviet Union Olympic team. Her father, Valeri Liukin, won two gold and two silver medals at the 1988 Games. Her mother, Anna Kotchneva, won gold in rhythmic gymnastics at the 1987 World Championships.
I'll bet they can tell a few tales:
In Soviet Union we no can afford balance beam. We do handstand on back of ox, 25 hours a day.
"Yes, my dad always tells me I have it better than I think," Liukin said with a laugh. "The Soviet Union was so strong in gymnastics back then. If you weren't at your best, there were five people just as good as you waiting to jump in."
No pommel horse. We jump over babushka.
"We train 'only seven hours.' They had three training sessions a day starting at 6:30," Liukin continued. "So they were up at 5 a.m. And when my dad was very young he had to move away to live with his coach. So, yes, I am very fortunate."
Valeri Liukin moved his family to the U.S. in 1992, when Nastia was just two. He and his wife never pushed their daughter toward gymnastics. But she hung around their studio and really took to the sport. And it has paid off. Her five medals in Beijing tied Shannon Miller and Mary Lou Retton for most by a U.S. gymnast in one Olympics. Liukin's nine medals overall in world events ties Miller.
All those medals are safely tucked away in suburban Dallas.
"They are in a safe at my parents' house," she said. "We have a lot of people coming in and out of the house. Not that we don't trust them. But we don't take them out too often. Recently, we took all nine out for a photo shoot."
Liukin and teammate Shawn Johnson were a charismatic duo in Beijing and brought a lot of attention to the sport. Johnson, too, has remained very visible since the 2008 Games. She suffered a torn ACL while skiing in 2010, but has announced her intention of training with the goal of competing in London in 2012.
Liukin isn't so sure. She has so many projects in the works that it could be tough for her to put them on the back burner and make that all-out commitment.
"The determination is still there," she said. "I'll always be involved with gymnastics. I wouldn't be where I am without USA Gymnastics behind me. And the fans, too. I have a lot of opportunities that came from the Olympics. I just don't know what is going to happen."
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1.888.825.4720 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. www.spyns.com.
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