LONDON - Hard to believe now, but there was a time Nastia Liukin was something of an unknown.
Oh sure, her pedigree - dad had two Olympic gold medals, mom a world title in rhythmic gymnastics - was common knowledge. As was the fact she’d won back-to-back US junior titles.
But how she’d fare against the very best in the world? How good she really was? That’s what everyone was eager to see as she headed off to her first world championships in 2005.
She answered definitively, bringing home two gold medals and two silvers. Three years later, she was the Olympic champion.
Now it’s somebody else’s turn as the Americans send a raw but promising team to next week’s world championships in London, with Bridget Sloan and Jonathan Horton the only holdovers from Beijing. Though there is no team competition, only all-around and individual events, worlds is the start of the next Olympic cycle. The results will play a big part in establishing early favorites for that next big meet in London.
The men begin competition Tuesday, and the women Wednesday.
“If they do the routines as we expect, I think we will place them at the right position,’’ said Martha Karolyi, women’s national team coordinator. “We want this to be a good experience because we’re hoping these girls will be representing us further on through the quadrennium, at next year’s world championships and going on to the next Olympics.’’
The US women brought teams of up-and-comers to both the 2002 and 2005 worlds and came up big each time, setting the tone for their success in Athens and Beijing.
Following a dismal showing at the Sydney Olympics, where they left without a single medal for the first time since 1976, the Americans won half of the events in 2002. Fast-forward to Athens, where their six medals, including the team silver and Carly Patterson’s all-around gold, was the best US showing since 1984.
A new generation of Americans dominated the 2005 worlds, taking home nine medals, one shy of the maximum possible, and winning the gold in all but one event. Two years later, the Americans won their first world title on foreign soil and six more medals. They left Beijing clanking, too, their eight medals the most for any country.
“The dynamics every single year is different and every single time we put up the best girls who are the best prepared at that moment,’’ Karolyi said. “These girls have international class and they’ve already made a good impression, and that will set the tone for this upcoming quadrennium.’’
Joining Sloan are Ivana Hong, a member of the 2007 world team; Rebecca Bross, the 2007 US junior champ; and Kayla Williams, who was still competing at Level 10, the step below elite, just a few months ago.