Olympic dreams for 18 year old Nastia Liukin finally came true when she took the gold in the women’s all around gymnastics final on August 15. She finished out the Beijing Olympics with five medals, surpassing both her parents who are former Olympians.

Liukin’s first Olympic medal came from the women’s team all around gymnastics final, in which the U.S. received a silver medal. Known for her success on the uneven bars, she was able to post the highest score of the competition with a 16.900. She also performed on the balance beam and floor exercise, giving her enormous responsibility in those finals. Teammate Shawn Johnson also helped the team a tremendous amount with her strong routines on all four apparatus.

Next, was the individual all around finals, which just so happened to be Liukin’s crowning achievement. After stellar performances on vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise, she was able to take home the gold. Johnson finished with silver giving the U.S. a gold and silver sweep. This is the first time that the U.S. has been able to take home both gold and silver in the all around gymnastics competition.

The individual event finals were the last part of the gymnastics competition. Liukin competed on floor exercise, uneven bars and balance beam ending with three more medals. First was the floor exercise. It may be considered one of her weaker elements and after a mistake in the team finals, it was unsure whether she would be able to come away with a medal or not, but she managed to grab the bronze. Said her father and coach Valeri Liukin, “We could have done better. Absolutely. And we will.”

Uneven bars turned into a real heartbreaker after Liukin tied with China’s He Kexin for gold with a score of 16.725. However due to a tiebreaking rule, the gold was eventually awarded to Kexin and Liukin unfortunately received silver in her signature event. Said Liukin, “I had the same exact score and I think that’s what makes it a little bit harder to take.” Kexin had been one of the members of China’s team that was under investigation over a controversy in age, but the dispute was settled and the Chinese participants were vindicated.

Finally, Liukin finished up her first Olympics competing on the balance beam against Johnson. Balance beam is Johnson’s greatest strength and she took home the gold, but Liukin grabbed silver giving the U.S. their second gold and silver sweep of the women’s gymnastics finals.

After 15 years of hard work and dedication Liukin finally realized her greatest dreams and became an Olypian. She ended her first Olympics with five medals including the sought after all around gold medal. Said Valeri, “I'm proud of her as a father and a coach.” Still very young, we can expect to see more gold medals from this competitor in world competitions and possibly another Olympics in London in 2012.