"Shawn and Nastia are as different as can be," says teammate Alicia Sacramone, who was captain of last year's world gold medal-winning team. "They are different ages, they care about different stuff, their gymnastics is so different but ultimately they want the U.S. to do well. There's no way we'll have a Tonya-Nancy here."
Kim Zmeskal, who was an Olympic gymnast in 1992 and is a former world champion, has watched Johnson and Liukin practice every month under the watchful eyes of U.S. team coordinator Martha Karolyi at Karolyi's ranch near Houston.
"Of course the girls watch each other," Zmeskal said last month.
"You can see out of the corner of their eyes, every month when they first arrive. They want to see what the other one is doing now."
Liukin, who was born in Russia, has been coached and trained by her father Valeri, who was a gymnast for Russia, and her mother Anna, who was a rhythmic gymnast on the Russian team.
Many coaches considered Liukin the best American gymnast four years ago before the Athens Olympics, but Liukin was too young to qualify and fellow Texan Carly Patterson won the gold.
Since then, Liukin has suffered through injuries, growth spurts and watched with quiet frustration as Johnson arrived on the senior scene last year with a dramatic rush of wins at the Pan American Games, the national championships and the world championships.
And while Liukin was groomed from toddler-hood for gymnastic stardom, Johnson tumbled into the sport accidentally -- mostly because she was breaking furniture in her Iowa home while somersaulting off the cabinets.
Her coach, Liang Chow, came from his native China with a dream of opening a gymnastics academy and he did -- opening his own academy in West Des Moines, Iowa. His careful grooming of Johnson included sending a videotape of his young protege off to Karolyi.
Johnson has come of age at the perfect time for an Olympian.
At 16 she is still fresh and has avoided the kinds of stress fractures and dislocated knees and shoulders that come with being a veteran in the sport.
Liukin is proud that after battling a foot injury for much of last year, she has beaten Johnson at one competition this year -- the Tyson's American Cup -- and finished a close second at the national championships.
"They are such totally different gymnasts," Zmeskal said. "Shawn is great on the power events, the floor and the vault. Nastia is so good on the uneven bars and balance beam. It almost seems as if you like one or the other."
When asked if she could import one of Liukin's qualities into her own gymnastics, Johnson had a quick answer. "I'd love to do her uneven bars. Her one-handed swings, wow."
Liukin has her favorite Johnson move too. "She's doing two and a half twists on her vault," Liukin said. "I'd like to have that."
And they both want one other thing. An Olympic all-around gold medal.
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diane.pucin@latimes.com
