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Nastia Liukin was born on October 30, 1989, in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR. Her parents are two former Soviet champion gymnasts: gold medalist Valeri Liukin who won the 1988 Summer Olympics gold and Anna Kotchneva who is the 1987 World Clubs Champion in rhythmic gymnastics. Her nickname Nastia is a Russian diminutive for Anastasia.

When Nastia Liukin was two and a half years old, her family moved to the United States after the breakup of the Soviet Union. At the age of three, Nastia was "always hanging around in the gym" with her parents, who could not afford a babysitter to look after her while they were working as coaches. She competed in her first National Championships as a junior in 2002, when she was 12½ years old.

During that competition, Liukin suffered a fall on the uneven bars which rendered her unable to finish the routine. She continued through the rest of the competition and finished 15th, which landed her one of the final spots on the U.S. National Team. She was chosen to compete with the U.S. team at the 2002 Junior Pan American Championships, and there she contributed a gold medal and placed second on the uneven bars, balance beam and all-around.

By 2003, Liukin was regarded as one of the strongest junior gymnasts in the United States. She won the junior division of the U.S. National Championships, as well as gold medals on three of the four events. She also received the same accomplishments in 2004.

In 2005, Nastia won her first senior National Championships. At the 2005 World Championships in Melbourne, she ranked first in the all-around after the preliminary competition. In March 2006, Liukin also placed first in the all-around at the American Cup. She also competed at the 2006 U.S. Classic as the defending all-around champion, but was only able to place fourth.

In late August of the same year, Liukin successfully defended her all-around, beam and bars titles, becoming a two-time senior National Champion. She was named to the U.S. team for the 2006 World Gymnastics Championships in Aarhus, Denmark.
Liukin's ankle injury required surgery, and the recovery period kept her out of both national and international competition for much of the year.

Although she was still recovering from her injury, she returned in July 2007 to competition as a member of the American team for the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro. She competed only on bars and beam, contributing to the team's gold medal finish and winning individual silver medals on both events.

Nastia is fluent in English and Russian and weighs 99 lbs (45 kg), with a height of 5’2” (1.60 m). As of Spring 2009, she attends Southern Methodist University and is enrolled as a freshman international business major at Southern Methodist University in January 2008. However, Nastia took a leave from classes so she could concentrate on preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games. Nastia's signature color is pink.

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