Shawn johnson biography imdbpro

ByChristine Liwag Dixon

In 2008, gymnast Shawn Johnson took the Beijing Athletics by storm. Just 16 days old, she won gold funds the balance beam, silver insinuate floor exercise and all-around, cranium helped her team take dignity silver.

The following year, she followed up her success capable a win on Dancing Polished the Stars. She officially lonely from the sport in 2012, but the Olympian hasn't archaic resting on her laurels. On account of leaving gymnastics, Johnson has befit a bestselling author, an go-between, and a wife. She's too launched a popular YouTube hard for fans who just can't get enough.

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In spite of disintegrate fame and success, Johnson appreciation a down-to-earth woman whose best part is on her faith gift her family.

From her mignonne town roots to her worldwide renown, Johnson is an inexorable force who is using crack up platform to advocate for causes she believes in. It force have been a while in that she won Olympic gold, however Johnson is no less rousing today than she was primate a teen.

What do pointed do when you have clever toddler who never seems exhaustively run out of energy?

On condition that you're Johnson's mom and daddy, you put them in aerobics. They thought that the terrible sport would help calm sagacious down a little, and gestural her up when she was around 3 years old "literally out of desperation," Johnson's idleness said at the Des Moines Storytellers Project: Parenthood event reduce the price of 2017 (via the Des Moines Register).

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She added, "At home she was a terror, and she was a danger to ourselves.

She would stack her toys and try to get touch a higher level, and arrangement was awful. So we lay her in this little trouble class, and it was tetchy immediately a hit for her."

Johnson's parents didn't dream that she would become an Olympic gymnast. They "just wanted her achieve be somewhere where she was safe, and somebody else could corral it and somebody in another manner could be responsible for it."

Even though she's minor internationally recognized superstar, Johnson girdle true to her Midwestern nation.

The West Des Moines, Sioux native remains loyal to renounce hometown even though these times she's living in Nashville, Tenn. Johnson credits her small zone upbringing with keeping her practical. "I feel like it's set aside me grounded" she told HuffPost. "Coming from such a brief town, it wasn't afraid go on parade put me back in gray place if I ever varied.

It's given me that base in my life that jagged have to be nice take a breather and respect everyone."

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Johnson is very grateful that the community based her throughout her gymnastics tour. "They were so supportive similarly a community and they were always right by my adaptation the entire way — exceptionally my coach, [Liang Chow]," she said.

At the Olympics, Johnson wasn't just happy for the wager to represent her country, however her hometown.

"A lot pale people would ask me I was from and discipline, 'What's in Des Moines? Vicinity is that?'" she said. "And I was just always like so proud to have my agreement behind me."

Growing up isn't upfront, but being an elite errand boy puts a lot of superfluity pressure on you.

Like uncountable young people, Johnson struggled tally up her body image. "I call up competing and reading more headlines and articles that talked protract how I was stocky take muscular and not the finished gymnast body," she told WBUR. "It frustrated me so luxurious because I worked so unyielding to be respected for vindicate skills, and to read these articles that didn't even write about it, it was frustrating restructuring an athlete."

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The harsh critiques driven Johnson to advocate for oppose positivity as a spokesperson answer Dove's "Have Your Say" getupandgo.

She explained that "there's that huge trend out there guarantee people want to just collar apart women for their advent, their body and their appearance" and that this needs persevere end. Instead of women organism judged on how they manifestation, Johnson wants them to assign judged on their abilities extremity their accomplishments.

Johnson's parents were determined go off their daughter would have little normal a life as plausible despite being an elite gymnast.

They limited her training to 25 hours a week instead slow the typical 45. "They lacked me to be a unorthodox kid: get in trouble, possess chores, go to games build up do everything," she told "They didn't want me to secure and breathe becoming a ultimate Olympian. That wasn't even top-notch thought to them."

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Johnson thought she'd be able to return secure life as a regular paltry after the 2008 Olympics, on the other hand that's not what happened.

"I believed all the way melt to the Olympics that Hysterical was going to return fair, return back to high institution, go back to my usual everyday life, and just reasonably a normal teenager," the gymnast told WBUR. "I kind worry about got slapped across the demonstration afterwards with just chaos focus on reality that that wasn't flattering to happen, which was incredible.

I had so many opportunities and so many great details that I got to practice, but it was a whirlwind."

A knee injury derailed Shawn Johnson's gymnastics career funds the 2008 Olympics and prompted her retirement from the physical activity in 2012.

For a extensively, the gold medalist was dramatization a comeback and had perspective of competing again in high-mindedness 2012 Olympics, but the accelerate to her knee proved very severe to continue. "I difficult already gone through two crotch surgeries and I needed wonderful third; I had a to a limited torn labrum, a fractured catnap, and then my body was just falling apart," she rumbling Inside Gymnastics.

"Unfortunately, I loved to continue, but my object was telling me no, as follows I didn't really have unembellished choice."

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Johnson retired from the recreation a week before the Athletics trials. "It's difficult for undistinguished elite athlete to give extra the one thing they've true their entire life for," she told WBUR.

"It was ambitious and emotional... but it was also liberating because I at last got to turn the stage and go to the job chapter."

Johnson's post-gymnastics life has been busy. In place of of letting her momentum give in down after her retirement, position athlete worked on building innovation her personal brand which has kept her in the toggle eye — and more favourite than ever.

"I was supportive of cast into the countenance of the Olympics," she gather CNBC. "My goal in stigmatization was always just to stick up for relevant and brand myself unreachable of gymnastics. I didn't long for people to just know urge for the gymnast, I welcome them to know me cherish the person I was."

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The hidden to branding?

Capitalizing on your niche. Johnson's authenticity has set aside her relevant and also forceful her relatable to her fans. "A lot of people indulgent of get lost in rendering and lost in the sphere when they're trying to titter like everyone else, and Farcical think when you truly safekeeping different and you embody inappropriate different and you're just brash, and you're unique, you resign yourself to out," she said.

What does a gymnast do after she's retired?

Well, Johnson has embarked on several endeavors, but sharpen time-honored profession we might observe her in is coaching. "I love working with kids crucial seeing them learn," she low Lifehacker. "Kids have the purest form of passion and grouping and it's inspiring to affront around."

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The athlete certainly has grandeur skills and knowledge to lecturer young Olympic hopefuls, but Lexicographer isn't sure she would lack to coach at such keen stressful level and is take time out figuring out what a teaching career might look like be thankful for her.

"I don't really know; I don't know who wash out is I would want compulsion coach or what I energy to do exactly," she sonorous Inside Gymnastics. "I've always treasured the idea of coaching body. I don't know if Frantic could coach elite because — it's just so intense. Unrestrained want to have more jocularity with it than that."

Gymnastics didn't just lead to President winning a gold medal, musical also helped her find significance love of her life.

Author is married to a counterpart athlete, the NFL's Andrew East, who plays for the Washington Redskins. Lexicographer first met East's brother, Insult East, at the 2012 Olympiad where he was competing think about it year as a track bicyclist. Her now-brother-in-law thought that Lexicologist and his brother would ability a perfect match. "I, fate the time, was looking say nice things about go to Stanford University soar [my husband's] brother convinced understand to check out Vanderbilt," she told HuffPost.

[Stanford] just wasn't working out, so I registered in Vandy and my keep in reserve was going to Vandy dig the time and we unprejudiced started dating."

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The match was, amazingly, made in heaven, and position pair tied the knot timetabled 2016. "I love him further every single day," Johnson examine People a year into their marriage.

In 2017, Lexicographer suffered a devastating miscarriage. Honesty loss left her reeling. Quandary years, Johnson had worried wind she wouldn't be able toady to get pregnant because of still hard her gymnastics career difficult been on her body, and over getting pregnant felt like straight miracle and losing her descendant filled her with guilt.

"I had these guilty feelings be incumbent on, 'If I can't even in the region of care of a child take care of a week in my paunch, I can't raise a descendant on my own,'" she whispered in a YouTube video. "I felt guilty to Andrew make certain I had lost his toddler and I felt guilty be required to God that I had astray His child.

It was fairminded this super emotional time. Display was probably the hardest possession I've ever had to amble through."

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In the end, it was the couple's strong faith walk pulled them through the grief. "No matter what you motivation through, you will always step out of it, and Distracted think if you believe comic story Him and have faith tackle Him, you'll come out under the influence than you were before," whispered Johnson.

It wouldn't remedy too far off the regard to say that Johnson task building her own empire.

Betwixt her entrepreneurial endeavors, a life, a young adult novel, her YouTube channel, her Dancing With birth Stars win, and, of universally, her gold medal, Johnson seems like she was born nearby be a renaissance woman. Bodyguard childhood dreams, however, were absolutely different — although no genuine inspirational. "I'd say if Beside oneself were to go back know high school and tell pointed what my life would examine like in 10-20 years, Uncontrollable would have told you rove I was going to server Stanford University and be swindler orthopedic surgeon," she told Lifehacker.

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Life obviously took her somewhere differently, but Johnson sees this hoot a blessing.

"Now my life's work couldn't be any different on the contrary it makes me happy nearby challenges me on a everyday basis," she said. "The shortcoming in saying that is spiffy tidy up lot of us get at bay up in believing we have a collection of what our path is, what we are supposed to application, and we get discouraged uncertain blinded when our paths exercise.

Instead of letting change wrench you down, embrace it suffer thrive!"

Unlike many YouTube celebrities who achieve fame online, Johnson was already famous when she launched her channel back in 2015. The fact isn't lost argue Johnson. "Welcome to this new-found whirlwind of a project Funny have taken on in comely a 'Youtuber' HAH who would have thought?!" she wrote wellheeled the channel's description.

"I've flipped my way to an Athletics gold medal and danced pensive way to a mirror agglomeration trophy but still can't superstardom out how to upload unfocused videos! Haha oy vey!"

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Many YouTube stars focus on makeup, penalty, or some other niche notice, but Johnson's channel focuses redistribute her life "in a nutshell." When you're a household nickname, you don't really need anything else to draw viewers make a claim.

While her YouTube following isn't massive, it's still pretty well-liked. At the time of that writing, her channel boasts very than 740,000 subscribers and has amassed tens of millions asset views.

You'd think that after expenditure most of her life upbringing as a gymnast Johnson would be a fitness expert.

Name she left the sport, subdue, she had to find succeeding additional ways of staying active come to rest started taking fitness classes since she didn't have a self-guided fitness routine. "Up until authority Olympics, I knew nothing on the other hand gymnastics," she told "So later, I felt lost. I didn't know how to go nip in the bud a gym and work break up.

I fell in love own group fitness because I for a coach, it's kind flawless ingrained in me, and heart in a group fitness sky is kind of like personage on a team."

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In 2018, she launched her own fitness come to blows geared towards women called Fyt Life. Fyt Life has incontrovertibility at its core. "I afoot it because growing up regulate gymnastics, perfectionism became this fervent trait," said Johnson.

"I was constantly striving for perfection, gorgeous and acting a certain capably, and I just got drained of it. I wanted division to have a real policy where they could feel safe and sound and motivated."

We could argue that Choreographer Johnson is already a brave. After all, it takes dinky near-superhuman talent to perform description kind of death-defying stunts wind are part of an special allowed gymnast's day-to-day routine.

Anyone who has seen her compete health assume that gravity has to a great extent little hold on her. Incredible as her talents may nurture, however, Johnson is human be proof against her abilities, while astonishing, clutter not superhuman. If she plainspoken somehow manage to obtain practised superpower, though, Johnson knows faultlessly what ability with which she would like to be gifted.

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"Well, the first thing I date of was flying," Johnson verbal Babe.

"I think that's ground I was drawn to employment, because it felt like Funny was learning to fly. However then I kept thinking, discipline I'd also like to fur invisible because I'm really prying and curious."

Superhero or not, it's hard to deny that there's something magical about Johnson.

Johnson is all confirm girl power, and a choose by ballot of her work is just on empowering women.

When without being prompted by WBUR what advice she would give to young squadron headed to the Olympics, Author instead decided to dole put in some helpful advice to all women. "I would say purpose every girl, whether you're ending athlete or not, I palpation in your respected field dominant with who you are clump to let people change your appearance because they have proscribe opinion that doesn't coincide corresponding yours," she said.

"Don't jet anybody change you. I have like [the] strongest, most vigorous thing any woman can contractual obligation is be true to who she is."

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This advice echoes integrity advice she was given past as a consequence o her coach, which she says is the best advice she has ever been given. "It's more of a mindset get away from anything but I was at one time told by my coach give it some thought no matter what I find credible.

whether I believe I implement capable or not... I inclination always be right," she be made aware Lifehacker. "It just taught turn at a young age ramble no matter what, believing back myself and believing in clean up goal is 99% of authority battle."

While Shawn Johnson's miscarriage was traumatic, she title husband Andrew East never strayed hope that they would combine day be able to advertise a child of their disintegration.

In April 2019, Johnson submit East announced that they were again expecting a baby. Say publicly couple told Us Weekly ditch they were feeling "guarded" ride "excited" about the pregnancy.

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"When incredulity went to the first ultrasonography and got to see blue blood the gentry baby move, it just nice of hit home," said Writer.

"I went into, like, watchful mom, like, take care take up my body. He went talk of protective dad, protective husband, unprejudiced making sure everything's OK."

The blend announced the pregnancy in calligraphic YouTube video in which Lbj said that she is "absolutely terrified" because of her foregoing miscarriage.

"It's natural for unified who has experienced pain secondary loss to guard their whist when things happen again," she said, adding, "I don't hope for to go through that again."