Shawn Johnson East
| Birthdate & location: | January 19, 1992   Des Moines, IA
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|---|---|---|---|
| Residence: | Des Moines, IA
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| Current gym: | Chow's Gymnastics | ||
| Current level: | Senior International Elite | ||
| Years on National Team: | |||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gymnastics | ||
| World Championships | ||
 |
2007 Stuttgart | Team Competition |
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2007 Stuttgart | All-around |
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2007 Stuttgart | Floor |
| Pan American Games | ||
|
Rio de Janeiro 2007 | Team Competition |
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Rio de Janeiro 2007 | All-around |
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Rio de Janeiro 2007 | Uneven Bars |
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Rio de Janeiro 2007 | Balance Beam |
 |
Rio de Janeiro 2007 | Floor |
Shawn Johnson (born January 19, 1992 in Des Moines, Iowa) is an American gymnast. She is the 2007 World All-Around Champion, as well as the 2007 U.S. National All-Around Champion.
Career
Shawn Johnson qualified to Junior International Elite status on her first attempt. She first attracted widespread attention at the 2005 US Classic, where she placed 3rd in the junior division.
At the 2005 National Championships, Johnson struggled on the first day of competition, falling from the beam and on the floor, and eventually placed tenth. By 2006, Johnson was ready with new skills, including a Jaeger on bars, a rarely-seen tucked full-in beam dismount, and an even rarer tucked double-twisting double back somersault on the floor exercise. She won the 2006 U.S. Junior National All-Around Champion with a score higher than any of the senior elite competitors that year.[1][2]
In 2007, Johnson entered the senior division, 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, claiming the All-Around title over her American teammates. She was also very successful 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 one silver in the floor exercise final, making her the most successful gymnast of the games. She won the 2007 Visa National Championships, beating two-time National Champion Nastia Liukin by more than 5 points, and Shayla Worley (who was recovering from injury) by more than 3 points. She represented the U.S. in the World Championships, with teammates Liukin, Worley, Alicia Sacramone, Ivana Hong, and Samantha Peszek. The team placed first with 184.400 points, 0.95 point ahead of the silver medal Chinese team. Johnson competed on all four apparatus for the team competition. She went on to win the all-around competition with a score of 61.875.
For 2008, Shawn is upgrading all four of her events in her bid to become a member of the U.S. delegation to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. She is planning:
Vault - Amanar - originated by Simona Amânar [2 1/2 twisting, laid out yurchenko] - adding 0.7 in Difficulty.
Bars - Reverse Hect [tkatchev] - adding 0.2 in Difficulty.
Floor - A whip to a triple full (replacing her double pike pass) - adding 0.3 in Difficulty.
Beam - Front Pike - adding 0.1 in Difficulty.
Johnson is a contender for the United States women's gymnastic team at the Beijing Olympics.[1] She attends Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Shawn Johnson is sponsored by GK-Elite Sportswear.[3].
2007 World Championships
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The 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were a big competition for Shawn. It was up and down for her almost continuously throughout the competition (though there certainly were more ups than downs.) In the qualification round, she hit her beam (16.25), floor (15.15) and vault (15.175) routines cleanly, but had a fall on her bar dismount (14.625). The US finished first in the qualifying round despite that mistake. That fall kept Shawn from finishing first after the preliminaries; it nonetheless allowed her to advance to the all-around finals along with teammate Nastia Liukin. Shawn also qualified to the beam and floor event finals.
The team competition was also a good competition for Shawn with a few struggles. She hit her bar routine for a 15.375, her floor routine for the same score, but on beam she had a fall on her handspring-handspring-layout series, for a disappointing but nevertheless solid score of 15.02. The US also suffered another mistake on beam when Nastia Liukin was forced to change her dismount to a back tuck to keep from falling and injuring herself. The team pulled together for floor, however, with three hit routines to win the team gold medal for the second time in history, and the first time on foreign soil.
The all-around competition was the highlight of the championships for Shawn. She performed a clean double-twisting yurchenko vault for a 15.175, she performed a solid bar routine for a 15.375, performed an excellent beam routine with only a slight wobble on the handspring-handspring-layout pass she had fallen off on in the team competition for a 15.9, and finished with her usual electrifying floor routine for a 15.425, making her the 2007 World All-Around Champion, joining the short list of world all-around champions from the US: Kim Zmeskal, Shannon Miller, and Chellsie Memmel.
The event finals were up and down but ended on a high note. The first final she competed in was the balance beam, normally her best event, where she had a fall on her standing full and her switch side leap, earning a 14.475, and putting her in last place. She came back strong however, for the floor exercise finals, nailing every landing, earning a 15.25, and the world floor title.
Shawn walked away from the worlds with three gold medals, the most of any US gymnast.
Injury
Shortly after Shawn returned from the 2007 World Championships, she suffered the first injury of her senior elite career. She suffered a stress reaction in her right leg which, left untreated can lead to a stress fracture. She wore a cast for a few days and then had it replaced by a walking boot. She wore that for a few weeks, and scaled down her training. After that point, the injury was healed. She considers herself very lucky that that was the only injury that came out of the 2007 season.
2008
Shawn competed in the American Cup on March 1st, 2008. It was a very good meet for her, and an opportunity to attempt new elements she has been working on. After a fall on her new 2 1/2 twisting Yurchenko vault (15.175), but a solid bars, beam, and floor routine, she was beat out of the all-around by 2 time American Cup Champion (2005-2006) Nastia Liukin. Yet she still placed second by .375, it marks her first defeat as a senior international elite gymnast. But aside from that, Shawn is a major contender for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Future career
Shawn has said that she plans to continue to train for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Along with Nastia Liukin and Alicia Sacramone, Shawn is considered by most experts to be a lock to be named to the U.S. Olympic team, but in a sport as precarious as gymnastics, that could change in an instant. Time will tell, but as of now, Shawn is a major contender for the Beijing Games.
References
- ^ a b *Krider, Dave (September 6, 2006). "Small wonder, Tiny gymnast Shawn Johnson making big waves at 14". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
- ^ News: WAG: Johnson wins junior all-around title at U.S. Classic
- ^ GK ELITE Sportswear: Choice of Champions for 25 years
http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=765329 : Shawn Johnson: America's next great gymnast
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