AFTER her self-imposed eadline to decide on a comeback came and went, Shawn Johnson provided
an update to IG in December. During a
lengthy interview, Johnson, who will turn
18 on Jan. 19, said she is still receiving
opportunities based on her four-medal performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
and her victory on Dancing With The
Stars last spring. The affable Iowan spoke
on a variety of topics, including the hiatus
of Nastia Liukin and Alicia Sacramone’s
comeback, the effects of money, social
networking, and much more. While
Johnson says her comeback plans have
not dissolved completely, more immediate
projects continue to keep her busy.
Perhaps the only conclusion that can be
drawn right now is that even Johnson isn’t
sure what her future holds.
One on One:
Shawn
Johnson
In this exclusive interview, the Olympic
beam champion candidly discusses fans,
Facebook and what to do next
By Dwight Normile
Have you made a decision about a comeback yet? Not really, not yet. Things have just
been coming up, I mean, appearances, different
promotional things that I’ve been doing. I
haven’t really gotten back into the gymnastics
gym yet, but I have been working out, I have
been staying in shape … in case, you know, the
days where that switch flips and I want to go
back and stuff. I know I did say I would try to
make a decision by October, but there’s nothing
rushing me and I want to make sure I make the
right decision. And right now I’m just kind of …
I’m happy, I’m healthy and I’m trying to still figure out what I want to do.
Have you been back to see Chow
(Johnson’s coach) and discussed things
with him? Yeah, I go back there every once in
a while and I see the girls and I talk to Chow. I
help coach and things like that. I’d love to get
back in the gym and start conditioning with
them and doing things like that,…
Do you feel like you would be letting your
fans down if you didn’t come back? Is that
part of why the decision is so difficult?
Part of me thinks that, but I don’t know. Right
now it’s trying to figure out what I want to do,
but I feel like no matter what I do my fans
should support me. Part of me does worry
about that (letting them down). But, I mean, I
went to Olympics, I accomplished my goal and
dream, I represented the country. And if I go
back again I think that should just be, you
know, extra special, and once more I could get
the fans and supporters again. But I think they
should understand that I’m just wanting to do
what I love, and I’m not sure what my new goal
in life is.
Do you think that fans might not understand how hard it was to reach the Olympics, and that it would be very difficult to
do it all over again? Definitely. Getting to the
Olympics, especially as a gymnast—of course,
I’m biased—but I think it’s probably one of the,
if not the, hardest things any 16-year-old girl
could do. I mean, you’re going through life-changing decisions and experiences, and you
put in the hours and hard work, and you’re also
in high school and your friends are going to
dances and football games and you’re going to
six-hour practices. I don’t think [fans] do get the
complete gist of it, but that’s what the media is
for. That’s why I love being able to tell them
that, and try to get it across to them.
Were you surprised to hear that Alicia
Sacramone is coming back? I was, just
because she did [retire], but I’m really happy for
her. That’s really exciting, and it would be cool
to see everybody back again, and stuff, but then
again, I’m supportive of everybody in what they
do.
Were surprised when Nastia pulled out
before worlds? It was a little shocking, just
because she had done the comeback and things
like that. But being in the position I am, it was-
n’t all that surprising, just ’cause you know
what you’re going through. We were at our ulti-
mate peak, we were at the best ability we could
possibly be, and it’s hard to get back to that.
It’s hard to go to a world stage and know that ‘I
was better than this’ or ‘I could be better.’ And
if you’re not perfectly ready, you don’t want to
go out and show people something that they’re
not expecting.
Let’s shift to what you are doing now. As a
senior in high school, are you applying to
any colleges? I haven’t started really applying.
I’ve been talking to colleges and opening that
door, but if I were to go to college it would be
in 2011. I’m going to take this year off to kind
of finish up everything, and do a late application process. I don’t know, I just feel like it’s a
little early to be going straight off. And I can
always defer for a year if I needed it for 2012.
And I’ve been talking to colleges about that,
too, you know, if I could train at the same time.
Just kind of making sure all the opportunities
are there for me.
Which schools are on your short list?
Harvard definitely is the No. 1, Stanford and
Duke.
You’ve spent a lot of time in Los Ang eles
since 2008, but you grew up in Iowa. What
is the biggest difference between the two
places, and what do you appreciate about
both? Iowa is home to me. It’s got a small-town feel; everybody knows everybody. It’s
homey [laughs], I don’t know how [else to
describe it]. But L.A., you know, you’re free to
try to be and do whatever you want, and people are so creative and supportive. Going into
L.A., I was very, being from a small town—you
get the stereotype of the Hollywood life. And I
was really surprised when I was out there. It’s
