Nastia Liukin Doesn’t Blame Gus Kenworthy for Exiting Special Forces

[ad_1]

Nastia Liukin Doesn’t Blame Gus Kenworthy for Exiting Special Forces

Special Forces recruit Nastia Liukin has pulled out after Gus Kenworthy said she was getting special treatment. However, she doesn’t blame him for her outing.

Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin voluntarily withdrew from Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test after Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy complained about receiving special treatment, but she doesn’t blame him for his early exit. On the third day of the show, the recruits were challenged with an emergency evacuation drill. They had to hold their breath underwater in a car for 20 seconds until they received the signal that they could unbuckle their seatbelts and swim. Nastya wondered if she could complete the task because she thought she couldn’t hold her breath for that long. Although she eventually accepted the challenge, DS agent Remi Adeleke sat next to her in the vehicle. This upset Gus, who felt she was getting special treatment and didn’t quite pass the test.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

In an interview with E! News, Nastya admitted that while Gus’ words bothered her, he wasn’t the reason she left the Special Forces. She said: “That person probably didn’t mean it at the time. We were all laughing about the lack of sleep, the poor diet. I don’t blame anyone for what they said. I just hold myself accountable for how I reacted to the words.” She also said that after months of thinking about getting out of special forces, she wondered what her experience would have been like if she had stayed a little longer. She confessed: “I think that’s a lesson I learned. We can’t go back in time and we can’t change anything.”

Related: FOX Special Forces: Spice Girls’ Mel B’s Age, Biography & Instagram

Nastia Liukin lets Gus Kenworthy join her in the special forces

Thinking about her discharge from the special forces, Nastia admitted: “I definitely let someone’s words get to me. I let someone else’s thoughts about me dictate my worth and dictate the internal progress and the breakthroughs and this mental toughness that I thought I had found and made up to this point.” She said she believed she left Special Forces “because my integrity was at stake and I don’t take it lightly.” Nastia explained that she did not win the Olympics with special treatment, nor did she want to receive special treatment in the special forces. However, she said she now realizes “I have allowed my own perception of myself to be affected by the words of others”. Nastia revealed that she didn’t ask for any additional resources for the challenge as she felt it would be unfair since “nobody else got it”.

Gus’ actions towards Nastia during the special forces were very disrespectful. He began by sarcastically wondering if the recruits would get another bathroom break because Nastya had taken an hour to complete the task. He then passive-aggressively interrogated DS agents when they announced who had failed the test, and Nastia’s name was not on the list. He asked if their names not being called meant they were successful. The DS Special Forces agents forced him to do push-ups to make up for his “stupid question”. However, Gus later explained that he asked because he wondered why Nastia had died if she had special help. He also pointed out to her that she had threatened to quit before two more assignments and was starting to look like the boy who cried wolf. Although he eventually praised her for completing the task, Nastia felt that her integrity had been questioned and no longer wanted to compete with a teammate who was unsupportive of her.

Gus was wrong to question Nastia because, on Special Forces, the only person a contestant is competing against is themselves. Nastya didn’t receive any points or benefits for completing the challenge because those things don’t exist in Special Forces. There was no reason for him to care if she succeeded, because it didn’t affect him in any way. The DS agents warned him that he had to worry about himself, and they were right. The special forces have shown that equality and justice are two different things. In order to keep the competition fair, Nastia was given accommodation. This does not mean that she has not completed the task. Nastya deserved better from Gus, and her reaction to his criticism is completely understandable.

Special Forces: The World’s Toughest Test airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on FOX.

More: Britney Spears outraged by Sister Jamie Lynn’s Special Forces comments

Source: E! News, Nastia Liukin/Instagram

[ad_2]