Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson East Reveals What Led to 8-Year Rift With Nastia Liukin

Shawn Johnson East is sharing how a famous friendship nearly flamed out.

The Olympic gold medalist got candid about her bond with fellow gymnast Nastia Liukin, with whom she competed on Team USA in the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

“Nastia and I were best friends, training, and at the Olympics we were roommates,” Shawn, now 32, told Access Hollywood in a segment published Nov. 4. “We were 16 and 18 years old. We were kids. I felt like we were under the spotlight and scrutiny so much to be each other’s top, biggest competitors, and we had figured out on the competition floor how to be best friends and competitors.”

However, the pressures of young stardom soon had a negative impact on their friendship.

“When the world started kind of interjecting how we should handle it,” the athlete continued, “they said we should also be each other’s worst enemies as well, so we didn’t speak for eight years.”

Eventually, the two were able to reconnect and work things out, with a little help from their significant others.

“Our boyfriends at the time got so tired of hearing us talk about each other,” Shawn explained, “that they said, ‘Enough of this, just go talk to each other again,’ and we did. And ever since then, it’s just been like we haven’t skipped a beat. We’re each other’s best friends, biggest supporters and we just love each other.”

After both athletes retired from the sport in 2012, Nastia went on to release her book Finding My Shine in 2015 and has been dating Ben Weyand since 2022, while Shawn has her hands full with kids Drew, 4, Jett, 3, and Bear, 9 months, whom she shares with husband Andrew East.

In September, she told E! News how she and the former NFL pro manage their busy household.

“I feel like we've got a pretty good routine going," she said. "We don't do any screens during the week if we have school. I feel like when you mix cartoons or something in with it, for us, it makes it harder. So in the morning we'll do a lot of play time.”

Keep reading to see Shawn's sweetest family photos.

(E! News and Access Hollywood are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

Shawn and Andrew appear with their third baby, son Bear, in December 2023.

Shawn Johnson East and Andrew East welcomed their third child on Dec. 12, 2023.

The former NFL player already has a sweet connection with baby No. 3.

The newborn shared a hug with big sister Drew, born in 2019, and brother Jett, born in 2021.

The gymnast captioned this cute shot of her thirdborn with the bear emoji.

Shawn and Andrew, who tied the knot in 2016, posed with Drew and Jett. She captioned the 2022 portrait, "Just the Hulk and his family."

For Halloween 2023, the guys chose their fighters as the girls went for magical vibes.

"Well… can’t make this up," Shawn wrote in August 2022. "Little dude has a new favorite toy. Giggles, smiles, won’t put it down."

The fam was ready for fireworks on July 4, 2022. 

Shawn and Andrew relaxed with a swim alongside their kids.

Drew modeled her one-piece swimsuit during a family pool day.

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