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By BARRY WILNER, AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP)—Nastia Liukin is going to have a very busy life outside of gymnastics. That doesn’t mean she’s putting gymnastics out of her life.

The Olympic all-around champion is considering competing at next year’s world championships in London.

“I’d love to stay around,” Liukin said Wednesday. “Gymnastics has meant so much to me. I’m going to be busy, but I’d love to keep going.

“I feel there’s one more medal at worlds I can win to give me 10. I missed out an all-around medal last year, so I kind of feel like it’s meant to be.”

Liukin is 18 and would be 22 for the 2012 Olympics, also in London. That can be ancient in women’s gymnastics. She also has dozens of opportunities outside sports—and millions of dollars in earnings—awaiting her back home.

Those include appearances on a variety of TV shows; a spot on the cover of US Weekly; a nationwide tour with the other U.S. gymnasts; and a magazine cover shoot with Maria Sharapova in New York on Sept. 8, just after the U.S. Open tennis tournament concludes.

“When she got an e-mail from Sharapova inviting her to do the shoot, it was about as big as winning the gold medal,” said her agent, Evan Morgenstein. “Nastia really looks up to her.”

College also might loom. Liukin is registered at SMU in Dallas, but won’t attend this semester.

“Maybe in January if things calm down, I’ll take a few classes,” she said.

She also mentioned trying TV work, acting and perhaps modeling. She’s already done some of that, with her visage omnipresent on ATMs throughout Beijing.

“Visa put the Chinese characters on the ATMs that say ‘destiny,’ ” she said, smiling at the thought of taking money out of a machine that has her picture on it.

When Liukin was asked about competing beyond these games, her father/coach Valeri, himself owner of four Olympic medals—his daughter has five— interrupted: “I’d like to know that, too.”

To which USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny added: “So do we.”

Valeri Liukin listed the challenges Nastia would face should she stay at it. For one, the code of scoring will be changing again next year, which means more adjustments in his daughter’s routines. There also is the possibility of injuries, which particularly plagued her in 2007, and even another growth spurt. Nastia said she already has gone through two of those.

Plus, there is the inevitable string of distractions that come with being the “queen of gymnastics” at the Olympics.

“As long as she wants to do it,” Valeri Liukin said. “She’s not saying she will do four more years. She will take it one at a time.

“We will have to do a lot more thinking on how to approach that. She is not getting younger in the gymnastics world. I have to be more careful with her.”

Nastia Liukin said the camaraderie on the U.S. team will be a big factor in her future decisions about competing. She often has referred to her teammates as family, and those frequent trips to the Karolyi ranch outside Houston that houses the national training center became a way to bond.

“Leaving the ranch this last time was funny,” she said. “There is one sign, ‘Y’all come back.’ Alicia (Sacramone) was the first to say, ‘I won’t be back. I’m done.’ Everyone else was kind of iffy.

“Even when I didn’t know gymnastics would be my life, I enjoyed it. If you don’t love your job, it’s probably time to get a new one.”

And she still loves it.

Liukin credits the friendly rivalry with Olympic roommate Shawn Johnson, who won one gold and three silvers, for helping her tie the U.S. record for medals at one games.

“I think it actually pushed both of us,” Liukin said. “We each wanted to be the one to walk away with the gold medal.”

Johnson, whose gold came on balance beam, was asked later in the day what she would say if she had to decide right now about competing in the 2012 Olympics.

“Yes,” she said. “The emotions and feelings you get from competing here are indescribable. If I could get that feeling of accomplishment and honor again, I’d give anything to be there.”

Johnson will stay in Beijing through the closing ceremony; the rest of the women leave Thursday.

“To me, it’s staying through the whole closing ceremony,” Johnson said, “and finishing off the whole Olympic experience.”