Word: johnson
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Coming into Beijing, Shawn Johnson had something to prove. As the reigning world all-around champion, she should have been on top of the gymnastics world. But remarks made after the world competition in Stuttgart from international judges and coaches about the American style of gymnastics bothered her. "We got comments that we are not the beam team, that we are not that strong on beam," said Johnson days after these Games began. "So we really wanted to work on that. We are the beam team now, and we want to show the world we can claim that title...
...Rest assured, Shawn. After winning the gold in the balance beam finals on the last day of gymnastics competition Tuesday, you can now call yourself the beam queen. Edging out teammate - and newly crowned Olympic all-around champion - Nastia Liukin by 0.2 points, Johnson now has her first ever gold at a Games. "To finish off on the very last routine of my Olympic experience with a gold medal around my neck is the perfect ending to the story...
...fairy tale, however, has had its ups and downs in Beijing. The most consistent performer on the mats all week, Johnson had only three silver medals to show for all her efforts. After her second place finish to Liukin, Johnson's emotions came flooding out, and as positive as her words were about the experience, her voice and face told a different story. "It's been a really long road," she said after the all-around competition on August 15. "To finally be here at the end, all the emotions are coming to us and we don't know...
...They certainly did for Johnson, who is coached by Liang Qiao, or Chow, a former Chinese national team member who now lives in the U.S., and benefits from the best of both the precision of the Chinese and the power of the American gymnastic styles. "At this high level, It doesn't matter which country or which culture you are in," said Chow. "You have to train real hard to push the limit...
...seemed to slow a bit at the end, it was because he had used everything up. The time of 19.31 seconds flashed on the scoreboard. He beat the world record by .01, a hundredth of a second (the winning time was later lowered to 19.30). Michael Johnson's sacrosanct, 12-year old 200m mark, 19.32 seconds, set in the '96 Atlanta Olympics, was wiped off the track. Bolt became the first runner since Carl Lewis in 1984 to win both the 100m and 200m races at an Olympics. He's the first to ever break world records in each...