Shawn Johnson

Infobox Gymnast
gymnastname= Shawn Johnson


imagesize=
caption= Shawn Johnson in San Diego, September 14, 2008
fullname= Shawn Machel Johnson
nickname=
country= USA
formercountry=
birthdate= birth date and age|mf=yes|1992|01|19
birthplace= West Des Moines, Iowa, USA
hometown=
deathdate=
deathplace=
height= convert|145|cm|ftin|abbr=on
discipline= WAG
level= Senior International Elite
natlteam= 2004 –
club= Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute
gym=
collegeteam=
headcoach= Liang Chow
assistcoach= Liwen Zhuang
formercoach=
choreographer=
music= August's Rhapsody from August Rush
eponymousskills=
retired=
medaltemplates=

Shawn Machel Johnson (born January 19, 1992 in West Des Moines, Iowa) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2008 Olympic women's balance beam gold medalist, the individual all-around silver medalist, [ [http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/GA/C92A/GAW024000.shtml "The Official Website of the Beijing Olympic Games"] "Beijing2008.cn". August 15, 2008. Accessed on August 15, 2008] the 2007 all-around World Champion, and the 2007 and 2008 U.S. all-around champion.

Personal life

Johnson is the daughter of Doug and Teri Johnson. Her parents enrolled her in a gymnastics class after they noticed her climbing up cabinets and jumping down from tables. At the age of six, she was among the first students when Liang Chow opened a gymnastics school in Des Moines.cite web | last = Johnson | first = Teri | title = My Gold Medal Girl | work = Family > Parenting Archive | publisher = Guideposts | date = 2008-08-08 | url = http://www.guidepostsmag.com/family/parenting-archive/?i=2865 | accessdate = 2008-08-25]

Johnson attends Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, entering the 2008–09 school year as a junior. Unlike most elite gymnasts who train approximately 40 hours a week and have private tutors, Johnson trains 20-25 hours a week and attends a public high school where she is currently on the “A” Honor Roll and takes part in numerous extra-curricular activities.cite web | title = Bio | work = Get to know Shawn | publisher = ShawnJohnson.net | date = 2008 | url = http://www.shawnjohnson.net/get_to_know/bio.aspx | accessdate = 2008-08-25]

Career

Junior Career

Shawn Johnson qualified to Junior International Elite status on her first attempt. She first attracted widespread attention at the 2005 U.S. Classic, where she placed 3rd in the junior division. At the 2005 U.S. National Championships, Johnson struggled on the first day of competition, falling from the beam and on the floor. She placed tenth in the all-around.

By 2006, Johnson was ready with new skills, including a Jaeger on bars, and two top-difficulty skills: full-in beam dismount and double-twisting double back floor exercise mount. She won the 2006 U.S. Junior National All-Around Championship with a score higher than any of the senior elite competitors that year. [cite web|last=Krider|first=Dave|title=Small wonder: Tiny gymnast Shawn Johnson making big waves at 14|publisher=CNN Sports Illustrated|date=2006-09-07|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/dave_krider/09/06/hs.notebook/index.html|accessdate=2008-08-19]

enior career

2007 season

Johnson entered the senior division in 2007, and continued to showcase new skills, including a double twisting double layout dismount off the uneven bars. She competed at the 2007 Tyson American Cup, winning the all-around title over teammate Natasha Kelley. Johnson also competed in the 2007 Pan American Games, winning four gold medals in the team finals, the individual all-around, and the balance beam and uneven bar finals, and the silver in the floor exercise final.

She won the all-around at the 2007 Visa U.S. National Championships, beating two-time National Champion Nastia Liukin by more than 5 points, and Shayla Worley by more than 3 points.

Johnson represented the U.S. at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with teammates Nastia Liukin, Shayla Worley, Alicia Sacramone, Ivana Hong and Samantha Peszek. They won the team competition with a score of 184.400 points, 0.95 points ahead of the silver medalist Chinese team. Johnson competed on all four apparatus in the team competition.

In the qualification round, Johnson earned a score of 16.25 on beam, 15.15 on floor exercise, and 15.175 on vault. She fell on her uneven bars dismount and scored 14.625. [cite web | title = 40th World Championships Artistic Gymnastics Women | publisher = www.GymnasticsResults.com | date = 2007 | url = http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/2007/worldwq.html | accessdate = 2008-08-12] The U.S. finished first in the qualifying round. Johnson's scores qualified her for the all-around finals, along with Liukin. Johnson also qualified to the beam and floor event finals.In the team competition, Johnson scored 15.375 on uneven bars and floor exercise, and a 15.150 on vault. She fell on the beam on her handspring-handspring-layout series and scored 15.025. The U.S. team won the gold medal. It was the second team gold medal for the United States in the World Championships. [cite news|last=Gholson|first=Nick|title=U.S. women the team to beat in gymnastics|publisher="Times Record News"|date=2008-07-27|url=http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2008/jul/27/us-women-team-beat-gymnastics/|accessdate=2008-08-19]

In the individual all-around competition, Johnson performed a double-twisting Yurchenko vault and scored 15.175. She scored 15.425 on floor exercise, 15.9 on beam, and 15.375 on uneven bars. Her total score of 61.875 earned her the gold medal. She became the fourth American woman to win the all-around.

During event finals, Johnson first competed on the balance beam, where she fell on her standing full and on her switch side leap, earning a score of 14.475. She finished in last place. In floor exercise, she went out-of-bounds on her first tumbling pass and won the gold with a score of 15.25.

2008 Summer Olympics

At the 2008 Summer Olympics Johnson competed in all four events during the team competition, [cite web |url= http://www.nbcolympics.com/gymnastics//resultsandschedules/rsc=GAW400101/index.html|title= Women's Team Final Rotation Breakdown|accessdate=2008-08-20 |work= Gymnastics|publisher= NBC|date= 2008-08-13] in which the United States won the silver medal. [cite web |url= http://www.nbcolympics.com/gymnastics//resultsandschedules/rsc=GAW400000/standings_team.html|title= Women's Team Final|accessdate=2008-08-20 |work= Gymnastics|publisher= NBC|date= 2008-08-13] Johnson also won the silver medal in the individual all-around competition, receiving a score of 62.725. [cite web |url= http://www.nbcolympics.com/gymnastics/resultsandschedules/rsc=GAW024000/standings_allaround.html|title= Women's Individual All-Around |accessdate=2008-08-20 |work= Gymnastics|publisher= NBC|date= 2008-08-14] Johnson's teammate and roommate at the Olympic Village ["Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, roommates in the Olympic Village, are the yin and yang of the U.S. women's team, opposite forces who form a spectacular whole."cite web|url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080809/SPORTS15/808090346|title=Olympics: Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin 1-2 punch in the quest for gymnastics gold|publisher=Des Moines Register|date=2008-08-09|author=Nancy Stockdale] , Nastia Liukin, won the gold medal, receiving a score of 63.325. [cite web|url=http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/GA/C73H/GAW024101.shtml#GAW024101|title= Results - All Around Women's Individual Final |publisher=The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
date=2008-08-15|accessdate=2008-08-15] With Liukin taking gold and Johnson silver, this competition was the first time that the United States Women's Gymnastics team took both the gold and silver medals in the individual all-around competition; this competition also marks only the fourth time any country has won both the gold and silver medals in the individual all-around competition. [cite web|last=Garcia |first=Marlen |url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/beijing/gymnastics/2008-08-15-womens-allaround_N.htm |title= U.S. takes gold, silver in all-around |publisher= usatoday.com |date=2008-08-15 |accessdate=2008-08-15] She won the silver medal in floor exercise, with teammate Liukin taking bronze. She did, however, win a gold medal on the balance beam apparatus. [cite web |url= http://www.nbcolympics.com/gymnastics/resultsandschedules/rsc=GAW008101/index.html|title= Women's Beam — Final|accessdate=2008-08-20 |work= Gymnastics|publisher= NBC|date= 2008-08-19] Like the individual all-around, she and Liukin took the top two medals in this event. [cite news |first= Alan|last= Abrahamson|title= Liukin and Johnson: New power pair |url= http://www.nbcolympics.com/gymnastics/news/newsid=235500.html#johnson+liukin+power+pair|work= Gymnastics|publisher= NBC|date= 2008-08-19|accessdate=2008-08-20]

Media appearances

Midwest grocery chain Hy-Vee, headquartered in Johnson's hometown of West Des Moines, ran a television ad before and during the Olympics featuring Johnson.

Johnson has appeared on several talk shows: the "Late Show with David Letterman" (August 25, 2008), "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (August 29, 2008), and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" (October 8, 2007, and September 9, 2008). Along with other Olympians, she appeared on the season premiere of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (September 8, 2008).

She led the Pledge of Allegiance on August 28, 2008 at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. [C-SPAN video of Johnson leading the pledge at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. cite web|url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080828/SPORTS15/80828038|title=Video: Shawn Johnson leads Pledge of Allegiance at Democratic National Convention|author=C-SPAN|date=2008-08-28|publisher=Des Moines Register] ["Mid-morning in Invesco Field at Mile High, and the most popular celebrity in sight is gymnast Shawn Johnson. The Iowa teen took the podium in tie-dyed T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops to check out the arena where she’ll reportedly be leading the pledge of allegiance several hours from now." cite web|url=http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/08/28/denver-convention-inside-invesco/?mod=googlenews_wsj|publisher=Wall Street Journal|date=2008-08-28|title=Denver Convention: Inside Invesco|author=Stephanie Simon] cite web | title = Olympian Johnson to lead pledge at DNC convention | date = August 27, 2008 | url = http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gTntuIRqH2MB7Zu1UvKghY29O_ngD92QVPJO0 | accessdate = 2008-08-27] [cite web|url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080828/NEWS09/808280394|publisher=Des Moines Register|date=2008-08-28|title=Shawn Johnson to lead pledge at convention] [cite web|url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080827/NEWS03/808270353|title=Carlson: Johnson joins nation in switch from Olympics to politics|author=John Carlson|date=2008-08-27|publisher=Des Moines Register] Reports by Johnson's agent, Sheryl Shade, that Johnson would grace the Wheaties cereal box did not come to fruition. [http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080820/NEWS/80820006/1004/NEWS02]

Johnson made a cameo appearance on "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" season finale episode "Just Say No," which aired September 9, 2008. [cite news | last =Fox| first =Erin| title = Olympian Shawn Johnson Gets a "Secret Life" | publisher = TVGuide.com | date =2008-09-04 | url = http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-News-Blog/Todays-News/Shawn-Johnson-Secret/800046152|]

From September to November 2008, she will be a marquee member of The Tour of Gymnastics Superstars. [http://www.gymnasticssuperstars.com/] [http://www.shawnjohnson.net/] Tapings of the second show of the tour will be included in "Frosted Pink with a Twist", which is a television special about women's cancers ( Johnson has a grandmother who is a cancer survivor [ cite web|url=http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1261029.html|title=Gold-medal gymnast touts cancer awareness|author=Carrie Peyton Dahlberg|publisher=Sacramento Bee|date=2008-09-24] ). Scheduled for nationwide broadcast on ABC on October 12, 2008, cite web|url=http://www.cbs8.com/features/healthcast/story.php?id=139804|title=Olympic Gold Medalist Jumps Into New Challenge|author=Barbara-Lee Edwards|publisher=KFMB-TV|date=2008-09-08] the television special also features singers Jesse McCartney, Kenny Loggins, and Grammy Award singers Cyndi Lauper and Carole King . ["Part of a 40-city tour by the U.S. Olympic gymnastics teams combined with a one-off event to raise awareness about women's cancers. Performing with the gymnasts in San Diego only are singers Carole King, Cyndi Lauper, Jesse McCartney, Kenny Loggins and Mario. Mary Lou Retton and Scott Hamilton are the hosts." cite web|date=2008-09-13|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080913/news_1s13gymbox.html|title=Frosted pink with a twist|publisher=The San Diego Union-Tribune|date=] [cite web|url=http://www.nbcsandiego.com/mostpopular/17428366/detail.html|publisher=NBC 7/39 (San Diego, California)|title=Olympic Star Visits NBC 7/39|date=2008-09-09]

kills

As of 2008, Johnson often competed the following skills, listed per apparatus.

*Vault - Amanar - 2 1/2 twisting, laid out Yurchenko
*Bars - Toe-on full pirouette; Jaeger; Gienger; bail handstand; double twisting double layout dismount.
*Floor - Double twisting double tuck; whip immediate triple full; front full punch layout rudi; double full; tucked full-in. She also changed her music for this routine from Highway Blues to August's Rhapsody, from the soundtrack of August Rush.
*Beam - Front Pike; standing tucked full; switch split leap to layout step out to pike back; 2 back handsprings to a back layout; full-in tuck dismount.

Competitive history

enior career history

2008 season

References

External links

* [http://www.shawnjohnson.net/ Official site]
*fig|id=9460|name=Shawn Johnson
*USAGymnasticsName|id=330449|name=Shawn Johnson
*USOC profile|sport=gymnastics|id=588|name=Shawn Johnson
* [http://www.DesMoinesRegister.com/shawn Shawn Johnson: Coverage from The Des Moines Register]
* [http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1819129_1819134_1825314,00.html "Shawn Johnson"] , n°7 on "Time"’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"
*imdb name|2808844