Shawn Johnson announces her comeback to gymnastics!

[Karpenko]

Am I the only cynical asshole who thinks it's all publicity?

She put off college to train, but I'm a bit cynical about how this will turn out.

It will be interesting. What made shawn such a great gymnast was how easily she could do the hardest skills being done on every single event, she didn't code-whore.

I think this comeback will turn Shawn into the opposite gymnast that she was, she'll probably have a more fluid sense of movement and more maturity and line, but she will code-whore to the max to get her difficulty. I can't see her ever doing a 2 1/2 Yurchenko or double double on floor again, but we'll see. The problem with Shawn making the team is her strong events are already covered, and bars is the biggest hole to fill, which is why Nastia IMO would have an easier time coming back.

[vesperholly]

I actually think Shawn sometimes got unwarranted flack for her form. Her form was actually really good. Legs always stuck together, toes pointed, didn't cross her legs in her twists. She really only suffered from her body type. People didn't like her lack of extension, especially compared to Nastia. However, she couldn't help that. No amount of training would ever give Shawn long arms and legs nor would any training allow her legs to look more locked out, she had knees that just didn't work like that. None of that was her fault and I didn't think it was fair to hold it against her. She worked her routines around what worked for her.

I agree as well. She had the misfortune to compete at the same time as one of the most excessively limbed gymnasts in US history, Liukin.

Johnson's personality was always appealing to me, despite the stereotypical squeaky voice I thought she seemed smart and dedicated. Her relationship with her coach was particularly heart-warming. I am not the biggest fan of her style of gymnastics, but it's more of a personal preference. The difficulty that she mananged to throw was extremely impressive. I hope the comeback goes well for her.

[oleada]

I think this comeback will turn Shawn into the opposite gymnast that she was, she'll probably have a more fluid sense of movement and more maturity and line, but she will code-whore to the max to get her difficulty. I can't see her ever doing a 2 1/2 Yurchenko or double double on floor again, but we'll see. The problem with Shawn making the team is her strong events are already covered, and bars is the biggest hole to fill, which is why Nastia IMO would have an easier time coming back.

Me either. The Amanar was barely rotated when she was small. I think the problem with Shawn is that while she had good form, she didn't necessarily have good technique and a lot of her skills were reliant on her being small. Now she's not, compound that with a major knee injury and I'm not sure how many of her difficult skills skills she'll get back. She'll be hurt more by this code, I think, because it's stricter on things like not being able to do proper leaps.

[judgejudy27]

Karpenko's points are valid and interesting. It is amazing these past greats are willing to put themselves on the line in these comebacks when they arent even a gaurantee to make their own teams anymore. Miller and Dawes in 2000, and Zmeskal in 1998 heading to 2000 (before injuries) are examples of this too.

[briancoogaert]

That is a very good news !

[Vash01]

Good luck to her. She will be only 20 in 2012, so she should still be a contender.

[judgejudy27]

Does anyone else think Johnson has any shot of winning the AA in London or am I alone in that?

[BigB08822]

Does anyone else think Johnson has any shot of winning the AA in London or am I alone in that?

Anything is possible at this point as we have no idea how her body will hold up, what skills she will regain, etc. There is nothing but potential for the moment. However, at her age (awful to say but this is gymnastics) and with a major injury I just don't see her as the same kind of AA threat that she once was. She may still be one of those with a shot but I don't know if she will be the favorite. Who knows, if she can learn a new skill or two on bars and keep her floor and beam SV's up, then she may not even need an Amanar. That is a lot of "ifs" though. I just don't see it working that way but I think she will make the team if she wants and her body holds up, after that...we shall see!

[LKR]

Does anyone else think Johnson has any shot of winning the AA in London or am I alone in that?

If she was at her form from 2008 she would be in the mix. Her routines from Beijing would give her a D-score of 24.8 (Bross and Mustafina currently have 24.4), and not to mention Johnson has experience and a knack for competing.

However, I honestly don't think there is a snowball's chance in hell of Shawn winning AA gold in London (and I'm a big Shawn fan). Shawn relied a lot on big skills (Amanar, Double-Double on floor, Double-Double off bars, Full-in off beam, et al) that I think will be extremely difficult to get back, especially considering how much her body has ballooned since she stopped competing. She is certainly not getting the Amanar back when she barely could rotate it in her prime, and I'm dubious about her getting back all of the other skills I mentioned as well. The current code has more emphasis on dance on beam and floor which won't help Shawn either, and to make matters worse her competition, both domestically and internationally, should be very strong. The all-around field in London could be one of the deepest in history, and just making it to the final (hell just making the U.S. team) will be a challenge. Bross, Ross, Sloan, and Weiber are all very formidable all-arounders and it will be a battle for all just to qualify to AA finals.


Stranger things have happened, but I don't think she can pull off an AA win in 2012, and in general I don't have very high hopes for this comeback. I mean, she said that she is coming off of a knee injury and has been in the gym for four days, and all of a sudden she wants to make a comeback. She hasn't even started training big skills or anything close to that yet so I'll believe her comeback when she actually shows up to a competition in a leotard. I do wish her all the best though.

[judgejudy27]

Thanks for your opinions. Maybe I should get my hopes up too high for her comeback. I hope she is happy and if the comeback goes until 2010 she atleast makes the U.S Olympic team in some form, even if she only gets to do 1 or 2 events.

[Lacey]

Has it ever been done before that someone competed again at the top after a torn ACL?

[BigB08822]

Kupets has done it a few times on the college level. Didn't she also tear it as an Elite? Can't remember. I know NCAA isn't the same but she came back to the same form and dominated her senior year. Oh, wait, or did she have achilles problems? Now I am all confused...

[Karpenko]

Kupets had the torn achilles in elite, but Annia Hatch tore her ACL and came back doing some really nice gym in 2004 (although you could tell she was still recovering a bit).

[judgejudy27]

Hatch was only a one event specialist really though.