Shawn Johnson never officially retired from gymnastics. Although she toyed with the idea after the 2008 games, she’s once again set her sights on the Olympics. But the decision to step back into competition wasn’t simple. It took a a self-described “garage sale” wipeout on the ski slopes to end her indecision. Ironically, skiing, the only activity Shawn’s long-time coach Liang Chow (they’ve worked together since she was 6) considered completely off-limits, brought her back into the game.
At a recent event at Nike headquarters, in Beaverton, OR, Shawn told me that after learning the results of her postaccident MRI, she drove straight to the gym and told Chow she wanted to come back even though she had torn two ligaments in her knee, torn her meniscus (the cushion of cartilage that sits between the thigh and the tibia, or shin bone), and ripped her hamstrings. “Instead of thinking, ‘I’ll never be able to come back now,’ the first thing that came to me was, ‘I have to go back.’ It was kind of a motivation to me to get healthy again and to rehab myself . . . I really like to make things hard, and I don’t like things that are easy.”
Keep reading to learn more about Shawn’s comeback.
No one would ever call her days at the gym easy. Shawn trains with Chow for four hours every weekday, spending time on each element: uneven bars, beam, vault, and floor. The gymnastics workout is sandwiched between two 30-minute stints of conditioning, one to warm up and one for cooling down. “It’s just very fast-paced; we don’t stop. We’re very productive; we get our stuff done.” Saturdays are the workhorse day, going 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with an hour break in the middle. On her own time, Shawn practices Pilates and yoga (imagine rolling out your mat next to her with her splits beyond 180 degrees) and does cardio on the elliptical or treadmill. But distance running is not her thing, explaining, “I run 70 feet down a runway” to the vault. Her max is five miles, and she finds running outside is serious stress relief.
Putting her Olympic dreams in perspective, the 20-year-old laughs when she admits for a gymnast she’s “considered old, since you rarely see girls over the age of 16; normally it’s a one-shot thing” going to the games. Her number one goal is to make the team — the team is finalized in early July. “I’d love to make the all-around competition, but I’m not going to put any goals or expectations on placements because you don’t know what’s going to happen. My biggest dream is just to be on the team.” And she’d be a veteran Olympian, a role she frankly relishes. Shawn has matured a lot in the last four years and sees herself as a kind of “momma of the team” — something she didn’t experience in Beijing.
When her motivation wanes, Shawn remembers the feeling of “standing on the podium, walking into the arena, or being in the Olympic village.” Being able to have a chance to feel that all again gets her going. “You learn from the mistakes and from the bad days, and you try to make the next day even better.”
Shawn accompanied first lady Michelle Obama to kick off the ‘Let’s Move’ Tour in Des Moines today, promoting fitness for kids!
Michelle Obama Kicks Off ‘Let’s Move’ Tour With Iowa Pep Rally
DES MOINES, Iowa – First Lady Michelle Obama began the tour to mark the second anniversary of her “Let’s Move!” healthy lifestyle initiative Thursday with an elaborate pep-rally speech and a dance inside an arena filled with 14,000 screaming kids.
First Lady Michelle Obama does the Interlude dance with kids on stage during a Let’s Move event with children from Iowa schools, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, at the Wells Fargo Arena in De Moines, Iowa, during her three-day national tour celebrating the second anniversary of Let’s Move.
Mrs. Obama had nothing but praise for Iowa, the state that gave rise to her husband’s 2008 White House bid and that will be in play when he seeks re-election this November. Known for its butter sculptures, deep-fried Twinkies and even deep-fried butter, Iowa has set the goal of being the healthiest state in the nation by 2016, as measured by a Gallup poll. (It currently ranks 16th.)
“We want every state in the country to do exactly what Iowa is doing,” Mrs. Obama said.
The first lady told the Des Moines-area kids she’s proud they’re eating their fruits and vegetables, and used her husband as an example of how they all should be able to fit some exercise their routines.
If the president can find the time to work out nearly every day, she said, anyone can.
These being kids, the speech was received like that thing they had to sit through to get to the fun part. As Mrs. Obama was speaking, two boys sat down on the floor in the standing-only area near the stage. (An adult nearby quickly told the boys to get up and “show some respect.”)
Mrs. Obama – with a little help from some sports and fitness celebrities, including figure skater Michelle Kwan, Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson and Bob Harper, host of TV weight loss show “Biggest Loser” – then led the entire arena in an Iowa-bred dance, called the “Interlude Dance.”
Afterward, her hosts unveiled a huge “Let’s Move!” birthday cake made of fruit. The first lady plucked off a couple grapes and popped them in her mouth as the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to her signature initiative, fireworks detonated and confetti and balloons rained down from the ceiling.
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican, even declared Thursday “Let’s Move Day.”
First lady kicks off ‘Let’s Move’ anniversary trip
First lady Michelle Obama began a four-state trip in Iowa today to celebrate the two-year anniversary of her “Let’s Move” initiative to combat childhood obesity.
Some 14,000 children greeted Obama at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines for a huge pep rally featuring sports celebrities such as figure skater Michelle Kwan and Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson.
The three-day trip also will take the first lady to Arkansas, Texas and Florida before ending on Saturday, marking one of her most extended domestic trips since taking office. It includes two states key to the November elections (Florida, Iowa) and two that are considered solidly Republican (Texas, Arkansas).
Since taking office, Obama has made childhood obesity one of her two key initiatives, the other being military family issues.
At today’s event, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican, proclaimed it “Let’s Move Day” and noted the state has set a goal of being the healthiest state in the nation by 2016. A Gallup poll currently ranks it 16th.
“I’m proud that you guys are eating your fruits and vegetables,” Obama said upon greeting the children, most of them in grades 6 to 9. “I’m proud that you guys are walking to school instead of taking the bus.”
She spoke about the events held during the past two years, which included such activities as hula hooping, flag football, dancing and jumping jacks. And she noted that her husband, the president, worked out nearly every morning. Then she led the entire stadium in an “interlude dance. . . .
Shawn Johnson was recently on set with GK for a photo shoot for the upcoming competitive gymnastics catalog. In between shots, Shawn updated us on her status both in and out of the gym, her unconventional approach to training for the summer games, and her brand new venture.
GK: What have you been doing to get ready for the summer games?
SJ: To get ready for the games I’ve just been training and living in the gym. I’m actually doing something a little different. I’ve been training down in Dallas, Texas at the Michael Johnson Performance Center. I’ve put gymnastics just a bit to the side and not training as much. I took a step away just to train with Michael to try to get my body to the next level. My knee really wasn’t responding, I needed to do something, and the training at MJPC has worked wonders. They are making me stronger and healthier and I can’t wait to come home and push for the Olympics.
GK: That’s great! We’re rooting for you!
SJ: Thank you!
GK: We heard you’re releasing a book. Can you tell us when and a little bit about it?
SJ: Yes! I am soon to be a published author. It’s called Winning Balance. I’m really excited because it’s my first book. It comes out June 5th and it’s about me and little things that I’ve learned here and there. The readers will get to know the real Shawn Johnson. There are so many people out there who think they know me from TV spots that I’ve done or interviews, but they've never really met me or know what makes me tick. It’s about my faith and everything I’ve learned through all my experiences.
GK: Did you write it yourself or did you have contributing writers?
SJ: Both. It’s been a huge group process with a lot of interviews. I’ve kept a lot of journals over the years and a lot of the book has to do with those. It’s really personal and gets into the little, intimate details of my life outside of gymnastics and I like that because people don’t get that opportunity very often.
GK: You talk about things that inspire you in your book, who is your biggest inspiration?
SJ: I don’t think I have just one person. I think throughout the years my parents and my coaches have been a huge inspiration because they’ve kept me grounded. They’ve kept me normal. They’ve gotten me through everything and I wouldn’t be here without them. They’ve been my most consistent inspiration through everything.
GK: You lead a very busy life, how do you keep it all together?
SJ: I have no idea! I do lead a very busy life, a very chaotic life. But, that’s what keeps me going. The few times that I get down time, it just doesn’t work for me. I get antsy and I want to work and get busy doing something else. So, I thrive off of that energy.
GK: Keep up the good work and we hope to see you in London!
SJ: Thank you, I hope so too!
Check out Shawn's current gymnastics leotard collection in our 2012 Spring Essentials Catalog available through April 30, 2012.
Shawn Johnson was the 2008 Olympic gold medalist on beam but knows she has lots of work ahead to make the ultra-competitive 2012 U.S. Olympic gymnastics team.
My coach, Liang Chow, had one rule while I was training for the 2008 Olympics: no skiing. I could do anything I wanted outside the gym, he said, except ski. Naturally, when the Olympics were over and I was able to take a break from high-level gymnastics, I told my parents I wanted to learn to ski.
We celebrated my 18th birthday, in January 2010, with a skiing trip to Colorado. On the final run of our last day, our group stood at the top of the mountain and looked at two different paths: a difficult black diamond trail or an intermediate blue run. My friends decided to ski the black diamond, but I was tired and lacked confidence to make it down the more difficult hill. I chose the intermediate run. Halfway down, I hit a patch of ice and I fell. It wasn’t a bad fall, but the binding holding my left foot to the ski didn’t unfasten. My ski caught in the snow with my left leg still attached while I rolled over my knee.
Shawn Johnson is doing a six-week intensive rehab program to heal her surgically repaired knee before returning to full gymnastics training.
I was falling down the mountain. It was a “yard sale” with everything flying everywhere, so I didn’t realize right away I had hurt myself. When I got up, though, my knee hurt a lot and I skied down the rest of the way on the other leg. I didn’t know it yet, but the fall had torn my ACL, MCL and meniscus. After 13 years of hard landings in gymnastics, one ski run had delivered the biggest injury of my career. No wonder Chow hadn’t wanted me on the slopes before Beijing!
In some ways the ACL tear was a blessing. I had hesitated to return to elite gymnastics after the 2008 Olympics. I told myself I had already accomplished so much, and the road was just going to get harder if I continued. It might have been easier to retire, to say my knee couldn’t handle it and let that be that. At the same time, the prospect of not being able to compete in gymnastics anymore was heartbreaking. Eventually I realized beneath the sadness was something else: a determination to return to the highest level of gymnastics and compete well. A determination to try to make a second Olympic team.
I had surgery to repair the ACL in February 2010 and was back in the gym by June, but rushed things too quickly and ended up re-tearing my MCL in September. A second surgery repaired the damage but kept me out of gymnastics until February 2011. Five months later, in July, I competed at a national qualifier called the CoverGirl Classic, my first meet in almost three years.
I was able to do Classics, the U.S. national championships and the Pan American Games and feel like I improved with each meet, but I was still struggling with a lot of residual pain from the two surgeries. I had gotten to a point where I was able to complete three events just fine, but I still wasn’t as strong as I wanted to be, and I still wasn’t competing floor exercise.
I had a constant fear, a constant little doubt in my mind: “OK, I’m getting ready to do my standing back full on beam and I might re-tear my ACL.” It’s a horrible feeling. To have any doubt in your body is the biggest weakness an athlete can have. There are times when I physically can’t get myself to go for a skill because I’m thinking, “My knee hurts really bad.” It makes you question: Is something wrong? Is the injury going to happen again? Shawn Johnson and U.S. discus thrower Jarred Rome are both training at the Michael Johnson Performance Center.
The truth is, rehabbing my knee had been put on the back burner. I didn’t make it a priority, and as a result my knee didn’t heal to the extent it should have. I had wanted to act like a machine and push through it. But it wasn’t possible.
I knew I wasn’t going to get where I needed to be just by doing the everyday usual routine in my gym. So, a month ago I moved to Dallas to do a six-week program at the Michael Johnson Performance Center in McKinney, Texas. Here, I’m focusing solely on getting my body — specifically my knee — where it needs to be in order to be ready for the U.S. national championships and Olympic trials in June.
I see a physical therapist daily for about two to three hours. We do a lot of strength training and biometrics work with high-tech tools like the Nike SPARQ Sensory Performance Lab, Dartfish digital movement analysis and Myotest. I do a lot of jumping and landing and things that really cater to my sport. In the evenings I head to a local gymnastics club for a few hours of skill work, just to keep up and make sure I don’t forget everything I know!
I’m pleased to say my knee feels a lot better. It’s still not back to normal, and I don’t know if it ever will be, but I’m learning to deal with it instead of expecting it to be like it was before. In two weeks I’ll return to Chow’s gym in Des Moines and from there will press on with full gymnastics training.
I know how much more I need to do to be where I want. I’m trying to stay as calm as possible and focus one day at a time, but when reality sets in, I feel everything: anxiety, excitement, nerves, pressure and joy. I have a lot of expectations and a lot of goals I want to fulfill, but the biggest dream is still to make the Olympic team for London.
Shawn Johnson will be blogging for espnW throughout her training for the Olympics in London this summer. Check back in March for more on her journey.
The Patch: Shawn Johnson, Congressman Braley Talk PE with Ankeny Northview Students
The Olympic gymnast and medal winner admits she hated PE when she was in school and that Northview has the right idea by making it fun for students because the lessons will stick with them when they’re older.
Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson and Congressman Braley Check Out Ankeny P.E. Classes
Some Northview Middle School students had a couple of celebrities on their team during a heated game of kickball Monday morning.
Olympic gymnast and gold medal winner Shawn Johnson and Iowa Congressman Bruce Braley, of Waterloo, stopped by the Ankeny middle school to check out the school’s use of technology in physical education classes. The duo didn’t hesitate to get in on the action, even participating in a game of kickball and lifting weights alongside students.
“I’ll definitely cherish this,” said Northview eighth-grader Harley Smith. “I was really surprised Shawn would take the time to come visit us.”
Johnson and Braley chose to visit Northview because the school has been recognized by non-profit organization PE4Life as a “model site” for physical education.
Johnson and Braley teamed up in December to introduce the Shawn Johnson Fitness for Life Act, a piece of legislation that seeks to improve physical education programs in schools by emphasizing technology use in teaching.
The legislation would expand a physical education master’s degree program first developed by the University of Northern Iowa and would partner with local schools to incorporate more technology into P.E. classes.
Braley and Johnson checked out a few different P.E. classes Monday morning. Accompanying them was Northview P.E. teacher Jodi Larson, who recently was named 2011 Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year.
Larson received the award based partly on her innovative teaching methods to meet the needs of all students. Some of these methods include the students wearing heart rate monitors to keep tabs on their activity level as well as the use of music during class to keep them motivated.
Following class, Braley and Johnson got a chance to chat with students. Johnson made a confession during the conversation.
“I really didn’t like P.E. when I was younger. It wasn’t fun,” she said. “But getting to interact with you guys and see you enjoying it now means a lot. If you don’t enjoy it, you’re not going to continue (to be active) when you get older.”
Johnson told the students she “lives with a heart monitor on.”
“I love my heart rate monitor,” she said. “It’s really a great way to monitor how hard you’re working.”
Johnson also said she was impressed with what she saw at Northview.
“Kids use technology in their lives everyday, from video games to iPods to cell phones,” she said. “Incorporating technology in P.E. class is the next step — an opportunity to make exercise more fun.”
Eighth-grader Iryl Bacdayan didn’t even know Johnson was coming to her class. Needless to say, she was pleasantly surprised.
“It was pretty cool she had time to stop by,” Bacdayan said. “She had some good words of advice for us.”
Even non-PE students wanted to catch a glimpse of the Olympic gymnast. Many gathered around the mezzanine of the Northview gymnasium to sneak a look before they were ushered off to class.
Smith and Bacdayan both enjoy P.E. more now than they did before the changes were implemented.
“We get choices for what we want to do now,” Smith said.
Larson said Johnson and Braley’s visit meant a lot to the students in her classes.
“I hope they take away that we do have a quality program here and doing things like wearing the heart monitor are lifelong activities,” she said. “Here’s a world-class athlete who can do this, and she’s showing us we can do it as middle school athletes as well.”
Johnson won four medals at the 2008 Beijin Olympics, including a gold for balance beam. The West Des Moines native trains at Chow’s Gymnastics in West Des Moines and is seeking a spot on this summer’s U.S. gymnastics team competing in the London Olympics.
KCCI: Shawn Johnson Stops By Gym Class
ANKENY, Iowa — Shawn Johnson stopped by an Ankeny school on Monday to highlight the school’s use of technology in fitness classes.
Johnson and Rep. Bruce Braley teamed up to introduce the Shawn Johnson Fitness for Life Act. The legislation seeks to improve physical education programs at schools by using technology like heart monitors and computerized fitness programs.
“I’m impressed with what I’ve seen at Northview Middle today,” Shawn Johnson said, in a news release issued Monday. “Kids of all ages use technology in their lives every day, from video games to iPods to cellphones. Incorporating technology in PE class is the next step — an opportunity to make exercise more fun for young people. These PE classes show what’s possible when that idea is put into practice.”
The two stopped at Northview Middle School at 1302 N. Ankeny Blvd. in Ankeny to show off an example of a program that is working.
Des Moines Register: Shawn Johnson helps reshape PE classes – and Iowa’s kids
You could picture the headline: “Shawn Johnson re-injures knee playing ball-tag with Ankeny middle-school students; Olympic comeback hopes dashed.”
It didn’t play out that way, thank goodness, but there she was Monday, scurrying around the Northview Middle School gym in Ankeny — she and Bruce Braley, the U.S. congressman from Waterloo — trying to keep from being it.
In December, Braley introduced the “Shawn Johnson Fitness for Life Act,” which helps schools incorporate heart-rate monitors, computerized fitness programs and other technology into their physical education classes.
“We really needed a symbol that was going to capture people’s imagination about the importance of fitness for life,” Braley said as a blur of teenagers swirled around him. “And because so many people look up to Shawn as a role model — we saw that after the Olympic gold medal and in ‘Dancing with the Stars’ — we reached out to see if she would be the human face for this campaign. She said she’d love to.”
The bill seems to be stuck in the quagmire of the health care debate, but Braley believes it’s only a matter of time before people come to appreciate the potential for long-term savings.
The obesity level, he says, is twice what it was when he was in high school “a million years ago.” By Braley’s estimate, kids who are obese when they leave high school will pay, on average, an extra $550,000 in added medical costs over the course of their lives.
The kids didn’t seem to care much about what’s going on in Washington or how much additional medical insurance they might need 30 years from now. Darrell Morris, a ninth-grader from Des Moines, was more interested in getting Johnson on his ball-tag team.
Johnson took part in their PE activities. She posed for pictures, spoke to them as a group, signed autographs.
“Dude,” one boy said to another, “she signed my binder.”
The real purpose of the visit was to check out the school’s new physical education curriculum, which offers students a wider variety of fitness options, including the kind of cardio-weight room you might find in the local fitness club.
In the Ankeny model and those like it, the important thing isn’t how fast you run or how high you jump. It isn’t how many 3-pointers you make in a PE game of hoops.
It’s getting fit, staying fit and developing healthy habits that will last a lifetime. The cardio weight-room has 14 different stations, including one labeled “squat jumps.” Johnson, who turned 20 this month, steered clear of that one.
She and fellow world champion Gabby Douglas, Johnson’s teammate at Liang Chow’s West Des Moines gym, know all about squat jumps. They probably have squat-jump nightmares.
Helping show Braley and Johnson around and getting them involved in several of the fitness activities was Jodi Larson, who was recently named middle school PE teacher of the year by the Iowa Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
During PE at Northview, the students wear heart-rate monitors, which gauge the intensity of their workouts. Not all the students are crazy about that, but the monitors tell the teachers who’s getting the most out of an activity and who isn’t. Mere appearances can be deceiving.
Johnson told the kids she seldom leaves home without her own monitor.
“I wear it all the time,” she says.
In the traditional system, the volleyball unit might be first, followed by the basketball unit. On this day, the fitness game was followed by 30 minutes in the cardio-weight room, which is open to students and staff members after school from 3:45 to 5.
“It’s fun,” said Cassie Harriott, an eighth-grader whose face was red from exertion. “Before, we all had to do the same thing. Now we have choices.”
Freshman Makayla Karns echoed Cassie’s sentiments after finishing a round of “ball slams,” adding, “But it’s a lot of work.”
Speaking of work, Johnson hopes to have all the chapters of her new book finished soon. The immediate plan, however, was to fly back to Dallas Monday night. Head to the Michael Johnson Performance Center to work on the knee the next day. Then at night, from 8 to 10, work on her gymnastics — alone.
No coach?
“It’s Chow or nobody,” she says.
The big goal hasn’t changed. She still wants to compete all-around in London. But why? To Johnson, life itself must feel like one big all-around competition.
The torn ACL Shawn Johnson sustained two years ago during a ski trip for her 18th birthday was pivotal to her return to the sport. Instead of ending any dreams of making a comeback, the injury actually made her realize how much she loved the sport. But after a full year of serious training at Chow’s Gymnastics in West Des Moines, Iowa, Johnson is still not ready to really test her surgically repaired left knee.
So Johnson, who turned 20 on Jan. 19, has been spending time at Michael Johnson Performance in McKinney, Texas. Dallas native Michael Johnson, a retired Olympic gold medalist in track & field, opened the center in 2007. Its purpose is to help youth and professional athletes get stronger.
Shawn is hopeful that the intense workouts at MJP will make the difference and help her gain the confidence to do some of the difficulty she had in 2008. Coach Liang Chow said that Shawn can do an Amanar vault “beautifully,” for example, but only into a loose-foam pit.
“She can jump straight very good,” he said. “She’s just afraid of twisting on a landing with that leg.”
Shawn’s clubmate Gabrielle Douglas, on the other hand, is doing well, Chow said. And while a pulled hamstring hampered her training of an Amanar last year, Douglas is working the vault regularly now with the goal of competing it this season.
“It’s a really difficult vault, and you need some good training numbers and competitive experience,” Chow said.
Douglas, who placed fifth on uneven bars at the 2011 world championships, is also upgrading that event.
“I’m not sure which [new skills] will be going into the routine, but we still have time,” Chow said.
Which isn’t the case with Johnson, he said.
“This is not an easy road for Shawn, especially after two years off, and also her knee condition,” he said. “She’s giving 100 percent, and we’re giving her 100 percent, but we have to face reality. …The problem is that she has to have two [strong] legs.”
Known for his perpetual smile, Chow is still able to keep things in perspective.
“I was joking with [Shawn], and I said, ‘For your birthday there’s no ski trip anymore,’” he said with a laugh.
Chow has two very different Olympic hopefuls in Johnson and Douglas. The former is an 2008 Olympic gold medalist (balance beam) who is desperately trying to find her form, while the latter is trying to learn how to harness her immense potential.
There are a lot of challenges ahead of us,” Chow said. “But it’s fun.”
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – An Olympic All-star is trying to get Iowans moving. Iowa native and Olympic gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson was in Cedar Rapids Tuesday night. It’s a part of her initiative to help Iowans live a healthier life.
Besides winning one gold and three silver medals at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Johnson was also the Season 8 Dancing with the Stars Champion. Now she hopes she can help get kids moving.
“I feel like we’ve lost that interest because kids don’t want to exercise because it just seems studious instead of fun, and we are trying to make if fun again,” said Johnson.
In December, Johnson teamed up with Rep. Bruce Braley to introduce the Shawn Johnson Fitness for Life Act. It’s a bill aimed to combat childhood obesity by incorporating new technology into physical education programs.
“You’re kind of steering away from the written tests the kind of part of P.E. that kids don’t like and it’s trying to make it fun again, and active and interactive,” said Johnson.
The University of Northern Iowa currently offers a master’s degree program in Physical Education, where graduate students work full-time at the Grundy Center. The program uses technology like heart monitors, Pocket PC’s , and computerized fitness assessment programs. The bill would create a grant program to fund 10 new master’s degree programs in physical education that emphasize the use of this same technology.
Many Eastern Iowans said Johnson is the perfect person to inspire kids to get fit.
“I think people do look up to her, I was very proud of her so I think it’s a great thing for her to be doing,” said Kelly Kellerhals, of Marion.
“Especially for the young girls here in Iowa, I think it’s very important what she is doing,” said Marge Hunt, of Marion.
As Johnson trains for the 2012 Olympics, she’s trying to spread the message that it doesn’t take competing in an elite sport to stay fit.
“It’s just about finding little things in life that can really change how you live and make you happier and healthier and it’s what I live for,” said Johnson.
The gymnast announced on Tuesday that she is now an author. Her book titled, “Moving Balance” will be available June 5th. {kcrg.com}
"I’m happy, healthy, in shape. I’m living a good lifestyle again. That might turn out to be the best reward of all. When I took off, I did a lot of cool things, but I wasn’t very happy. I missed gymnastics a lot and I’m finally back to being who I was meant to be. I feel like me again."
Shawn Johnson is doing a six-week intensive rehab program to heal her surgically repaired knee before returning to full gymnastics training.
Shawn Johnson and U.S. discus thrower Jarred Rome are both training at the Michael Johnson Performance Center.
