Her performance was one of the most memorable of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. With a buoyant spirit and knack for virtual perfection across disciplines, America fell in love with Shawn Johnson. She has now earned something that no other American female gymnast ever has: the Sullivan Award. The award honors the country’s top amateur athlete. Johnson earned the award over teammate Nastia Liukin, U.S. Olympic men’s 400-meter freestyle relay swim team, volleyball player Cynthia Barboza of Stanford, and North Carolina basketball player Tyler Hansbrough. Johnson is just the third gymnast to win the Sullivan after Paul Hamm and Kurt Thomas and is only the second U.S. gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal on balance beam.
By Kelsey Koenen
Published: December 9, 2008
From suspending herself upside down on a 4-inch-wide platform, to swinging her full body weight around a steel rod more than 20 feet off the ground, Shawn Johnson kept the audiences rooting in her favor. A novice to the Olympic Games, Johnson made it seem effortless, as though she was born with the natural ability to fly.
But of course, contrary to this illusory popular perception, being a world champion and Olympic gold medalist, even for Johnson, is anything but natural.
When Johnson was just 3-years-old, she was registered in gymnastics classes to release some energy. The back handsprings transpired, and her talent developed before she had even learned her timetables.
Johnson’s coach, Liang Chow, a former Olympic gymnast from Beijing, has been by her side in training. It started at his local gym in West Des Moines, Iowa. There, she tumbled and flipped herself to the extreme in her effort to become the best gymnast in the world.
“I’d say my greatest strength as a gymnast is being able to handle myself under pressure,” Johnson said. “I don’t know how I acquired that skill. I think my coaches really helped me, especially at the Olympics. I think I was able to keep myself as calm as possible, just mentally tough.”
Johnson went to Beijing as the 2007 all-around world champion, especially optimistic after finishing first for the Olympic trials in June. When it was all said and done, Johnson, who received the gold medal in women’s beam, came in second to
Nastia Liukin, a friend and rival who took the all-around gold medal as Johnson came in second with the silver. Despite the competition, their support of one another never faltered. Hugs and encouraging text messages spread through training, competition and back home again. Liukin, three years Johnson’s senior, couldn’t be more different, but tied by their similar goals and united as American teammates, both came home proud.
Johnson, who earned four medals in all, still hasn’t wiped the smile off her face. With the gold in beam, three silvers—in individual all-around, floor exercise and final team ranking, she headed back to U.S. soil where the teenager she really was could finally let her success start to absorb. Johnson’s close friends, and being just a high school student, had only existed thousands of miles away.
Unlike many of her teammates and competitors, Johnson made the choice to stay in public school from the beginning. On top of her normal life as a junior in high school, she spends four hours a day, six days a week training with Chow.
“It takes a lot of sacrifice, a lot of hard work and a lot of hours,” Johnson said, adding that most people “don’t see the blood sweat and tears that we put into the gym.”
According to the 16-year-old champion, the Olympic Games have made her who she is today, and the promotions and appearances on talk shows or commercials are something she’s thrilled to do.
“I love being able to have a voice and use it,” Johnson said. “It’s an honor to be considered an athlete celebrity, to know that I can influence little girls and kids everywhere; it makes me feel like all the hard work has been worth it and it’s paid off.”
Every week Johnson is in a whirlwind of public appearances. Just hours off the plane from Beijing, she was interviewed on “The Late Night Show with David Letterman.” Later, Johnson also performed on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “Oprah” and “Secret Life,” and made a commercial for CoverGirl, and it hasn’t stopped there. Johnson said the most exhilarating of it all was leading the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention.
“I was more nervous than [at] the Olympics,” Johnson said.
In the big picture, the nerves are forgotten, and Johnson, just 4 foot 9 inches and 90 pounds, tries to reiterate that, for her, it’s about a love for the sport that most directly led her to be herself.
“I think gymnastics has taught me to be my own person,” Johnson said. “It’s the things that make you stand out that get you that medal.”
And stand out she did.
In the future, Johnson said she would give anything to go to another Olympic Games and “recapture that feeling.” Tears welled in her eyes when she said her biggest goal was and still is an all-around individual gold medal. But for right now, Johnson said it’s about taking it one step at a time. To be an elite gymnast isn’t easy, and there’s pride in making it possible.
“No matter what, if you give it your all,” Johnson said, “you can go places you never imagined.”