Just your typical weekend for the Next Big Thing in American gymnastics. Nastia Liukin won her second straight U.S. senior all-around title at the 2006 Visa Championships, earned two gold and two silver at the 2005 World Championships and two silvers at the 2006 Worlds on an injured ankle, which she recently had operated on.

On Monday, Dec. 18, the latest issue of Newsweek hits the stand with its, “Who’s Next in 2007?’ feature that includes 2008 U.S. Olympic hopeful, Nastia.

Q1: So what did you think when you found out you were in ‘Who’s Next in 2007’ for Newsweek?

NASTIA LIUKIN: “I was really excited when I found out. I knew I was doing an interview and a photo shoot, but when my agent actually told me what it was for, I was very excited and I couldn’t believe it. It’s really a big honor to be picked for the ‘Top 20 People to Watch’ and to be the only female athlete made it even more exciting. I’m really excited and I can’t wait to see it. 

Q2: What was the photo shoot like?

NASTIA LIUKIN: “It was really cold. Last week when I did it, it was like 40 degrees outside and I had to wait until the sunset and everything. So standing on a beam in a leotard in 40-degree weather, it was pretty cold. But it was a lot of fun; it was just me and my dad and my agent. It was definitely a different experience. I’ve never done anything like that, but it was a good experience.

Q3: You’re pictured on the beam in front of a BBQ joint. Are you a big rib fan?

NASTIA LIUKIN: “I’ve eaten them before, but I’m not a big fan of them, I guess, but they’re not bad.”

Q4: If you were the person making the call on where the family was going to eat tonight, where would you go?

NASTIA LIUKIN: “Sushi, definitely sushi. I really liked sushi a lot. When I was little, I didn’t like it at all, but after the last few years, I really like it. Actually, I had it for lunch today. There’s this really good place across the street from our gym. We go there a lot, like before school or sometimes on Fridays.

Q5: You hurt your ankle at the camp, and then go and win the silver in the uneven bars at Worlds, how did you do that?

NASTIA LIUKIN: “I guess with a lot of strength and determination. I was really upset when it happened. I pretty much thought I wasn’t going to be able to compete at all, but every day it got a little bit better, I started walking on it just a few days before the team departing the ranch. I was pretty disappointed when it happened, but I knew I still had a chance to do bars, so I practiced hard and everyday do a little more. So right before we left I was pretty much doing everything on bars, besides the dismount. I wasn’t able to do the dismount until three days before the actual competition when we had the podium training.

“But I was really there just to help out my team, that was my most important goal, just to be able to help out the team in any way I could and obviously bars was the only way I could.

“In the next few days was the individual finals and I really did the best that I could at that time and I am very happy that I was able to win two silvers at that Worlds.”

Q6: You trained with 2004 Olympic champion Carly Patterson, what was that like?

NASTIA LIUKIN: “It was definitely a very good experience to be able to train with her so many years. To see what it took to get all the way up to the top and I was really thankful that I was able to see that. You have to work very hard every single day and she proved that 100 percent. She always gave 100 percent in the gym and to finally see it all pay off for her … I was really happy for her and proud of her. Working out with her was really good for me because I got to see exactly what it takes to get on top of the world like that.

Q7: Do you get a chance to talk with her now?

NASTIA LIUKIN: “We do talk almost every single day. She lives here now. We’re going to try and get together this weekend, because we’ve both been really busy.

“She’s always there for me if I ever need advice. I’m just very thankful that I have somebody who I know that is very close to me, that’s been all the way to the top and that they know exactly what you’re going through right now. She really knows how to help you out. She really knows the best advice to give you. Things around the gym or things she’s learned traveling all over the world; little things that she’s experienced throughout her journey.

Q8: So if you get to go to the Olympic Games and win the gold medal and get to appear on Celebrity Duets, what songs would you want to sing and who would you want to sing them with?

NASTIA LIUKIN: “Oh gosh, I’m definitely not a singer, like she is. I’m not sure, maybe like Kelly Clarkson or Christina Aguilera. I think that would be really cool. I’m definitely not going to be singing after I’m done with gymnastics. Maybe acting but not singing. I’ve always wanted to act, so maybe hopefully, after gymnastics. Even when I finished competing, I still want to stay pretty involved with the sport. I really do want to act, so hopefully when I have more time, I’ll be able to do some acting.

Q9: Tell me about your school, you only have to attend from 12:30 to 3 p.m.?

NASTIA LIUKIN: “Normally our classes are each half-an-hour in five periods, but this year since I’m a senior … I’ve taken all the classes I need … so this year I’m taking two classes, English and calculus, so I only at school for an hour, which is not a lot, but I do study on my own a lot because I’m studying for the SATs.

“In eighth, and ninth, and 10th grades, I took a lot of classes in the summer while I had a lot of time, when I wasn’t traveling so much. I took like government, economics, health and speech and like those things, I took them in the summer, so I wouldn’t have to do them in my senior year because I figured I’d be a little more busy towards these years, than I would have been a few years back.

“I’m excited. I’m hoping to start at SMU next fall, but I’m probably not going to be a full-time student, just because I won’t have time with the training and everything. It’s close to our house, so it’s pretty convenient. It’s close to the gym and the house.

Q10: Are you still interested in being a marine biologist?

“Um, actually, not so much. A few Christmases ago, we went to Cancun. I wanted to swim with the dolphins, so me and my dad we went to swim with the dolphins. It’s not as cold in Cancun as it is here in December, but I was still like really cold in the water, so I thought, ‘okay, maybe, this isn’t for me.’ I couldn’t even stay in the whole time to swim with the dolphins. I was upset, but I couldn’t stay because I was so cold."