Tweet Yet another former Olympic Gymnast is to release a memoir as the 2012 London Olympic Games rapidly approaches. At the beginning of the month it was announced that 1996 Olympian Dominique Moceanu would release her memoir on June 5th, which also happens to be the day that Shawn Johnson will release hers. The memoir will be titled “Winning Balance: What I’ve Learned So Far about Love, Faith, and Living Your Dreams”.

Carol Stream, IL – Four-time Olympic medalist and Dancing with the Stars winner Shawn Johnson will
release a memoir, …

Tweet So with the VISA Championships coming up next week, lets have a look back at the past National Champions of the last 30 years.
 

Year
Name
Club
Age
Score

1980
Julianne McNamara
National Academy of Gymnastics
14
76.15

1981
Tracee Talavera
National Academy of Gymnastics
14
74.15

1982
Tracee Talavera
National Academy of Gymnastics
15
75.95

1983
Dianne Durham
Karolyi’s Gymnastics
14
76.10

1984
Mary Lou Retton
Karolyi’s Gymnastics
16
77.02

1985
Sabrina Mar
SCATS
15
74.94

1986
Jennifer Sey
Parkettes
17
74.50

1987
Kristie Phillips
Karolyi’s Gymnastics
15
77.32

1988
Phoebe Mills
Karolyi’s Gymnastics
15
77.86

1989
Brandy Johnson
Brown’s Gymnastics
16
77.02

1990
Kim Zmeskal
Karolyi’s Gymnastics
14
77.42

1991
Kim Zmeskal
Karolyi’s Gymnastics
15
78.42

1992
Kim Zmeskal
Karolyi’s Gymnastics
16
78.59

1993
Shannon Miller
Dynamo’s Gymnastics
16
78.41

1994
Dominique Dawes
Hill’s Angels
17
78.00

1995
Dominique Moceanu
Karolyi’s Gymnastics
13
78.45

1996
Shannon Miller
Dynamo’s Gymnastics
19
78.38

1997
Vanessa Atler
Charter Oak Gliders
15
74.612

Kristy Powell
Cincinnati
17
74.612

1998
Kristen Maloney
Parkettes
17
76.749

1999
Kristen Maloney
Parkettes
18
38.687

2000
Elise Ray
Hill’s Gymnastics
18
76.987

2001
Tasha Schwikert
GymCats
16
74.912

2002
Tasha Schwikert
GymCats
17
75.550

2003
Courtney Kupets
Hill’s Gymnastics
16
74.950

2004
Courtney Kupets
Hill’s Gymnastics
17
76.450

Carly Patterson
WOGA
16
76.450

2005
Nastia Liukin
WOGA
15
76.164

2006
Nastia Liukin
WOGA
16
123.700

2007
Shawn Johnson
Chow’s
15
123.650

2008
Shawn Johnson
Chow’s
16
127.500

2009
Bridget Sloan
Sharp’s
17
117.550

2010
Rebecca Bross
WOGA
17
120.300

Above is the AA podium from …

Tweet Many people have been asking on Twitter, Facebook and discussion forums what the criteria is for petitioning at Classics to be allowed compete at the VISA Championships in four weeks time. You can find this information in the 2010 – 2011 USAG Women’s Program Rules & Policies;
IX. PROCEDURES FOR PETITIONING Petitioning procedures are for use when the athlete is unable to compete due to illness, injury or extenuating circumstances; they are not intended to replace the qualification system.
A. USA Championships
1. No petitions will be …

Tweet It’s been quite a while since we’ve had any news on the USA girls. The MAG gymnasts have been competing at different events so we have seen and heard about them but very little from the WAG side.
Dwight Normile writes for International Gymnast ahead of the Visa Championships in August. He gives insight into the elite girls as discussed with their coaches. Here is the low down:

Shawn Johnson will compete at both Classics and VISA’s but is not yet ready to compete All Around.
Gabrielle Douglas will compete an Amanar …

Tweet There’s a great new article on the BBC Sport website as part of the World Olympic Dreams series on Shawn Johnson. It follows Shawn at the Nike HQ in Portland, Oregon. There is an accompanying video which I just love, it shows Shawn inside the Nike laboratory doing moves and covered in body movement receptors. She looks like she is in fantastic shape. We also get to see a short little clip of her on bars where she really shows that she hasn’t lost it!
The article is great, it …

Tweet USA Today published a new article on the comebacks of 2008 Olympians  Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin. The article covers the usual for Shawn that she is training again and is still not sure how her knee will hold up but has vowed to move on from her injury.
“I’ve accepted the fact it’s never going to be 100%,” she said. “I can’t constantly worry about it. It would tear me down.”
Marta Karolyi is quoted as saying that Nastia is “still delaying” her decision and apparently might not decide whether …

Tweet Yesterday the BBC posted a video diary update from Shawn Johnson. I had said how it would be great if she did more of these. Then last night Nastia posted this video on her Facebook and Twitter pages. She seems to still be doing a hell of a lot of appearances, promotions but says that she is in the gym everyday – now is that the gym or the gymnastics gym? Shawn on the other hand has cut these out and is working away in the gym.

She says that …

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Shawn Johnson is part of the BBC’s Olympic Dreams which follows athletes in the run up to London 2012.  They’ve posted a new video diary entry from Shawn. Check it out here on the BBC website.
Since she seriously injured her knee in a skiing accident, Shawn Johnson has endured a long road to recovery, but she has now been welcomed back into the US gymnastics team.
In her latest video diary, she tells World Olympic Dreams how thrilled she feels about her Olympic comeback.

Would love to see some of these …

Tweet Matthias Fahrig out of European Championships 2011 – surprisingly, not an achilles injury! (Via The All Around)
GymNiceTic posts about the FIG World Cup in Paris

Double Front links to the training video of Shawn Johnson at the National Team Training camp
Oz Gym Blog gives us a round up of all of the Aussie gymnastics news
Gymnastics Examiner names the 21 WAG gymnasts to watch in 2011

Tweet Shawn Johnson posted her latest blog post upon her return from the National Team Training at the Karolyi Ranch last week.

She says that her knee is still causing some problems, leaving her unable to do everything she wanted to. She’s not quite back in shape and at the standard she’d like to be but she’s getting there. It appears that Shawn is aware that she has a lot more work to do as even since Beijing 2008, the gymnastics world has changed a lot. She is very impressed with …

Tweet It’s been relatively quiet in the gymnastics world lately. I seem to have missed out on some news while I was at the gym last night so here goes:
Double Front reported that the AP reporter Nancy Armour tweeted that Shawn Johnson has been listed as a member of the USA National Team – great news. Gymnastics Coaching and Gym Truth Teller also had some opinions on this

The British Men are off to Cancun training with the Japanese Men’s team. I’m delighted to hear than Dan Keatings is training with them. …

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The latest discussion in between the members of the Gymnastics McLaughlin Group is the following:
Which 2008 U.S. Olympian has the best shot at making 2012?
Without knowing Nastia Liukin’s status, is she training with the aim of 2012 or not, I decided I can’t include her in my decision. Ultimately if she was and is on top form I would have chosen her for my answer. I was a little pushed for time thinking of answers so I felt without knowing where Johnson is at (she’s been quiet which is …

Tweet Shawn Johnson has finally updated her blog!
On life without gymnastics:
Don’t get me wrong, these past two years have been absolutely amazing and have given me the opportunity to experience so many wonderful things, but I’ve missed who I was with gymnastics. I missed being the “athlete” and having that drive and day-to-day goal of bettering myself and making myself stronger. Gymnastics made me feel invincible and proud of the person I was and I noticed I’d lost that.
On the Karolyi Camp:
WOW, was I a …

Tweet Shawn Johnson’s video game will be released in the USA on November 16th. She recently did an interview with USA Today Game Hunters about the game. We previously posted screen shots of the new game but a video is now available to watch .Read the full interview and view the video here.

What got you interested in a video game based on gymnastics?
(Developer Zoo Games) talked about this idea of a realistic gymnastics game. (Others) have done gymnastics games before, (but) they were kind of cartoonish and they didn’t focus …

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We posted previously that the BBC World Olympic Dreams Team are featuring Shawn as one of the athletes being tracked for World Class 2012 in partnership with the British Sports Council. They have posted a new video and article with Shawn, where she discusses her come back and the possibility of winning gold in 2012. Shawns parents, Doug and Teri also talk to the BBC about her come back. Shawn is apparently postponing college, cancelling all the events on her celebrity schedule and staying at home where she will spend almost …