Shawn Johnson
Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson, having just turned 17, is the youngest competitor ever on “Dancing with the Stars” but Entertainment Weekly has picked her to win this season.
Shawn was born on January 19, 1992 in Des Moines, Iowa. At age three, her parents enrolled her in gymnastic class after they noticed her climbing and jumping around the house. She joined the gymnastic school of Liang Chow (currently the head coach of the United States Gymnastics Women’s Team) three years later.
Shawn placed third in the junior division of the U.S. Classic in 2005. However, she struggled at the U.S. National Championships that year. She fell while on the beam and during the floor exercise and ended up finishing in tenth place overall. She rebounded in 2006 by adding new skills to her routine – the Jaegar on the bars, the full-in dismount on the beam, and the double-twisting double back mount in the floor exercise. Those new additions helped her win the 2006 U.S. Junior National All-Around Championship.
In 2007, Shawn joined the senior division, adding a double twisting double layout dismount for the uneven parallel bars. She won the all-around title at the 2007 Tyson American Cup and took home four gold medals from the 2007 Pan American Games.
At the 2007 Visa U.S. National Championships, Shawn won the all-around, beating teammates Nastia Liukin (a two time National Champion) and Shayla Worley. She joined Nastia, Shayla, Alicia Sacramone, Ivana Hong, and Samantha Peszek at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, where the team took home the gold medal.
Shawn competed in all four team events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where the U.S. won a silver medal. Shawn won a gold medal for the balance beam and a silver medal for the floor exercise. She also won an individual silver medal in the all-around competition. She came in fifth place for the Associated Press’ 2008 Female Athlete of the Year award.
Shawn has appeared in television ads for Hy-Vee (a Midwest grocery chain), Ortega, and McDonalds. She also appeared in print and web ads for CoverGirl and Secret deodorant as well as on packaging for McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Cheerios, and Hy-Vee. She has appeared on “The Today Show,” “Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and “Live with Regis and Kelly.” She also appeared in “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.” She released a book “Shawn Johnson: Olympic Champion: Stories Behind the Smile” in December 2008.
Still a student, Shawn attends Valley High School in West Des Moines as a junior this year, where she is listed on the honor roll. She spends approximately 20-25 hours a week training.
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March 26th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I read that there was a stalker after her and he tried to get into the DWTS show. He was arrested and there is a restraining order on him