Nastia Liukin was poised to enter the 2008 Beijing Games as the United States' top gymnastics darling.

She won back-to-back U.S. crowns in 2005 and 2006 -- and 2003 and 2004 if you count her junior national titles -- and was the world champion on the balance beam and the uneven bars.

But then injury struck, and the Olympic expectations surrounding Liukin faded.

While the Moscow-born Liukin was hindered by an ankle injury in 2007, another American -- Shawn Johnson -- bounced into the Beijing spotlight. The Iowa teenager won the U.S. national crown and the all-around title at the world championships.

Critics began to wonder if Liukin, 18, was too old to compete at a high level anymore, and had all but counted her out of medal contention at the Beijing Games.

Trying to focus on her recovery, Liukin tried not to pay too much attention to what was being said about her in the media.

"I hear everything that happens and I hear what (the media members) think, but I just try to set that aside and keep training," Liukin said. "I know that as long as I work hard, and if you're with your coach and you're doing the right things, it's all going to come back."

Liukin proved herself right in the months leading up to the Olympics.

Recovered from her ankle injury, the daughter of two Russian gymnasts won the American Cup, an Olympic tune up, in March, defeating Johnson to claim the all-around title. She then finished second to Johnson at the U.S. championships in June.

At the meet she also displayed some of her arsenal that could win her the gold in Beijing. Liukin performed a high-risk, high-point value routine on the uneven bars that was put together by her father, Valeri -- a double gold medalist for the Soviet Union at the 1988 Olympics.

"She has some very difficult combinations (on uneven bars) that would not be possible to be executed if her execution was not perfect," women's national team coordinator, Marta Karolyi, told The Associated Press after the American Cup event.

With Liukin back in top form, she is back at the center of gold-medal conversations -- alongside Johnson.