Gymnast Shawn Johnson has detailed why she refused to speak to her best friend and former Olympic teammate Nastia Liukin for eight years.
Johnson, 32, who won a gold medal on balance beam at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, recently opened up about the rift in her friendship with Liukin, 35, during an interview. reach hollywood,
“Nastia and I were best friends during training and [2008] We were roommates at the Olympics,” Johnson recalled. “We were 16 and 18 years old, we were kids.”
Although the pair had worked out a way to become both competitors and friends, the public’s desire for them to become arch rivals caused a rift between the events.
“I felt like we were under the spotlight and scrutiny to be each other’s top, biggest competitor,” Johnson explained.
“And we figured out how to be best friends and competitors on the competition field. But when the world started intervening on how we should handle it, he said we should also be each other’s worst enemy.
After the Beijing Games, Johnson and Liukin did not speak for eight years. Only after the intervention of their significant others did the gymnasts get back in touch and revive their friendship.
Johnson revealed, “Our boyfriends at the time were so tired of hearing us talk about each other that he said, ‘That’s enough, just talk to each other again,’ and we did. ” “And since then, it seems like we’ve left no stone unturned.”
“It was amazing,” Johnson said of his and Liukin’s reunion, but also added, “It was really confusing for both of us because we were really nervous.”
“We didn’t know how to rekindle it [friendship]“The gold medalist confessed, although his nervousness was short-lived. “It was literally like, within two minutes, we became best friends.”
Johnson said of the reconciliation, “We both said the same thing, ‘I don’t know what happened but I miss you and I miss us.’ “And it’s been like that ever since.”
In addition to her gold medal for the balance beam event, Johnson, who married former NFL player Andrew East in April 2016, won three silver medals for floor exercise, individual all-around and team all-around at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics . ,
Liukin won the coveted gold medal for the individual all-around in women’s gymnastics that year, as well as silver medals for the uneven bars, balance beam and team all-around, and a bronze medal for the floor event.
Johnson retired from gymnastics in 2012, after a long battle to recover from a knee injury that ultimately prevented her from going to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Liukin retired from the sport that same year after failing to make the United States’ 2012 Olympic team.
