Inspiring Young Gymnasts: An Interview With Nastia Liukin. Plus Fantastic Gymnastics Dora doll

The 2012 Summer Olympics are finally here!

We just love the energy that’s generated during an Olympic season and all the fantastic opportunities to show our kids how far one can get by having a real passion, powered by motivation, persistence and hard-work.

And that’s precisely what I got to chat about with Nastia Liukin, 5-time Olympic medalist and gymnast, last week during a recorded Skype conversation. Nastia became a member of the U.S. junior national team when she was 12 years old and won the National all-around title at the age of 13. Since 2005, Nastia has been a key member of the U.S. Senior team. Although she didn’t make it to the Olympics this year, she will be heading to London to cheer on her teammates.

Nastia has partnered up with Fisher-Price to inspire young gymnasts with the launch of Fantastic Gymnastics Dora doll – just in time for the Olympics!

Check out our interview to learn more about Nastia and how she got started with gymnastics through the motivation of her mother and father, both Olympic medalists in gymnastics themselves. She also shares with us just how important it has been for her career and personal life to be bilingual in English and Russian and how that has kept her in touch with her grandmother.

Oh, and then scroll down to enter for your chance to win a brand new Fantastic Gymnastics Dora doll. Yes, she’s bilingual!

{Photo credit: ©2012 Mattel, Inc. All Rights Reserved.}