The Most Inspiring Gymnasts

Who is Shawn Johnson?

On January 19, 1992, in Des Moines, Iowa. Shawn Johnson was born into the family as the only child of parents Doug and Teri Johnson. She was a very energetic little kid which was part of why her parents enrolled her in gymnastics at the young age of 3 years old. Little did her parents know what Shawn was capable of becoming. Liang Chow was her gymnastics coach and he helped get her to get seen and known. Soon enough she would be an extremely competitive candidate for the Olympics. Johnson was able to finally go to the Olympics at the age of 16 in 2008. There in Beijing, China. Johnson became the women's balance beam gold medalist and also received three silver medals, for the women's gymnastics team competition, individual all-around competition and floor exercise. She has spoken so much of what happened behind the scenes to her winning beam routine. She actually wasn’t feeling good at all and was definitely in her head about it. She has said how her coach had her do many routines on the beam and she didn’t make a single full routine without a fall. When she got on the beam she just went through the motions and it happened. After the Olympics, she went onto other television shows a couple times and made appearances on the news.

She went on Dancing with the Stars twice. The first time she won the mirrorball with partner Mark Ballas in Season 8. The second time, she was runner-up on Season 15 with partner Derek Hough. She hoped to compete again in the 2012 Olympics, but decided to retire in 2012 after an ACL injury.

In 2016 she married a former pro football player, Andrew East. She has two children. The oldest is a little girl named Drew Hazel East and the little boy is named Jett James East. Her and her husband are expecting their third child this December.

Laurie

Why is she an inspiration to me?

Shawn Johnson is an inspiration to me because of her perseverance as a ngymnast and how she took her lessons from her sport and applying them the real-world situations. A personal goal of mine is to use everything I have learned doing acrobatic gymnastics and use it in my real-world job. For example, techniques on working with someone, communication skills, trust, and making quick decisions on my feet. I love how Shawn johnson was able to continue making a name for herself after the olympics as well. She has continued to grow her reputaion through social media and other platforms. She still supports USAG today and inspires many gymnasts around the country to work

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