Gymnast shawn johnson biography olympics

However, the athlete's Olympic hopes came to end in June , when she announced that she would be retiring from competitive gymnastics due to problems with a surgically repaired knee. She was an energetic child, and Johnson's parents enrolled her in gymnastics when she was only 3 years old. A few years later, she began practicing with instructor Liang Chow at his training facility in Des Moines.

Johnson excelled at gymnastics from a young age. It wasn't long after Chow began coaching Johnson that he knew she would be a viable Olympics competitor. After years of tedious training on the floor and balance beam, Johnson finally met the age requirement to compete in the Olympics in , when she turned Hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide watched as Johnson won four medals at the Summer Olympics, which took place in Beijing, China.

Johnson was named the women's balance beam gold medalist, scoring She also claimed three silver medals, for the women's gymnastics team competition, individual all-around competition and floor exercise. Her participation on the show brought her wide acclaim, and she later returned for Season Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars, finishing in second place.

In early , Johnson tore her ACL, a major knee ligament, while she was skiing and was forced to undergo reconstructive knee surgery. Only four months later, she announced her plans to begin training for the Summer Olympics in London.

Shawn johnson olympic medals

However, Johnson's Olympic hopes came to end in June , when she announced that she would be retiring from competitive gymnastics. She said that she did not believe her surgically repaired knee would be able to withstand the wear of Olympic training. In , Johnson married pro football player Andrew East. In October , the two released a heartbreaking YouTube video in which the former gymnast revealed that she had recently gotten pregnant, only to suffer a miscarriage just days later.