American gymnast Nastia Liukin finished the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday by taking home more medals than any other gymnastics competitor and surpassing the haul of her own father in the process.Her silver medal on the beam was her fifth prize of the Games, after taking silvers in the asymmetric bars and the team event, a bronze in the floor exercise and the gold medal in the women's all-round.
"To leave here with five Olympic medals, it just, it's amazing and it's more than a dream come true. I would have never dreamed this. It's been the experience of a lifetime and nothing could top this," she told reporters.
Her haul tops that of her father and coach, Valery, who won two golds and the two silvers at the 1988 Seoul Olympics competing for the Soviet Union.
"The only thing he can say to me is 'I have two golds'," she said,
Asked if she was thinking about beating his medal count as she saw the results flash up on the board, Liukin said: "Obviously that's not something he was thinking about but I sure was thinking about it."
She came second to team mate Shawn Johnson, while China's Cheng Fei took the bronze.
"Nine Olympic medals in the family's not too bad," said the 18-year-old, who had hung one of her father's medals in her Texas bedroom as inspiration.
Valery Liukin's reaction to his daughter's feat was that of a proud coach and father, rather than a bested competitor.
Image and News Courtsey: Reuters.com
