"Nastia Liukin making them wear ugly leos to ensure she is the best dressed in the room" - Fans react to Nastia Liukin Cup 2024 leotards
The leotards for the Nastia Liukin Cup 2024 have been revealed as the tournament is all set to be held on February 25, 2024, at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville.
The tournament, hosted by retired gymnast Liukin annually since 2010 in collaboration with the USA Gymnastics, will see 44 Level 10 gymnasts (22 each in both junior and senior fields) competing at the event. The gymnasts qualify for the event through a series of invitationals called the Nastia Liukin Cup series.
The 2024 series consisted of 22 events such as Kim Zmeskal’s Texas Prime Meet, WOGA Classic, Metroplex Challenge, and many more, from which one junior and senior gymnast each have qualified. As of now, 42 gymnasts have been finalized, with the remaining two athletes to advance through the Kentucky Winter Classic.
Gymnastics Now, which posts news related to the sport, shared glimpses of the gymnasts' leotards for the event on its X (formerly Twitter) handle, stating:
“Sneak peek at this year’s Nastia Liukin Cup leos 👀 What do we think??? 💖”
Fans immediately expressed their disappointment over the designs of the pink and black-colored leotards made for the tournament. One user humorously stated that Nastia Liukin was making the gymnasts wear the leotards to ensure she remained the best dressed in the room:
"Nastia Liukin making them wear ugly leos to ensure she is the best dressed in the room"
Another user was unhappy with the pink or black section extending up to the neck line and called the design tacky.
"Why does the pink/black section go up to the neck line like that it looks so tacky"
While another user felt the design was so bad that Nastia needed to apologize to the girls, and wrote:
"Nastia needs to apologize to those girls immediately"
Here are a few more reactions from fans online:
Nastia Liukin is a five-time Olympic medalist
Nastia Liukin has won five Olympic medals in her Artistic Gymnastics career, including one gold, three silver, and one bronze medal. She clinched all these medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
She also played an instrumental role in Team USA’s silver medal win in the team event. She achieved her first individual and only gold medal in the women’s all-around event with a final score of 63.325, making her the third American woman (then) to win the discipline, after Mary Lou Retton and Carly Patterson.
Liukin then went on to win a bronze medal in floor exercise, a silver in the uneven bars, and another silver in the balance beam to conclude her successful Olympics campaign.