Page 66 - Demo

66 || MOST FITNESS || FEBRUARY / MARCH 2016fter undergoing numerous surgeries to heal a fractured lower back, torn labrum and the news of a fourth knee operation, Johnson made the difficult decision to retire from gymnastics permanently. %u201cSo many people were counting on me and I wanted to prove that I could do it again but my body was just shutting down.%u201d When her family, coaches, and own heart were invested in a sport she started at age three Johnson admits that it was the hardest decision she has yet had to make.After Johnson%u2019s official retirement she began the journey of figuring out what came next in her life. Shawn explained, %u201cAt first it was a whole identity crisis. You invest your entire being and worth into the sport that when it is taken away from you, you have no idea what to do with yourself.%u201d After spending every day for years from 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM and 4:30 PM - 11:00 PM in the gym Johnson recounts driving around the city of West Des Moines at 4:30 PM with nothing to do. Shawn needed to rebuild who she was and figure out what she was good at outside of the sport, a daunting task for an eighteenyear-old. Landing a spot on Dancing with the Stars her a transition, %u201cI could prove to myself that I was more than just gymnastics.%u201d Dancing pushed her to go even further and try different things like continuing with Dancing with the Stars, writing a book, or joining Celebrity Apprentice%u2014anything that would take her out of her comfort zone.Johnson joined the Dancing with the Stars cast in 2009. After eleven weeks of competition Johnson was named the winner%u2014the youngest champion in the show%u2019s history! Although many thought that Dancing with the Stars was an easy transition because of her gymnastics background, Johnson attests that it was not the case. Whereas gymnastics is stiff and consists of posing to a beat, it does not have the flowing movements of dance. It was difficult for Shawn to find the fluidity she was never allowed to have in gymnastics.Then in 2012 Johnson joined the All-Star season of Dancing with the Stars and won second place. Shawn%u2019s first and second seasons with Dancing with the Stars consisted of seventeen routines, each! In the All-Star season Johnson only had three days to learn two or three routines at a time. %u201cThey threw a lot at us during that season. There were a couple of dances where we showed up on live television and were handed a dance style and music, then given 30 minutes to choreograph a routine.%u201d From the foxtrot to the mamba to the tango, she was able to learn a variety of dances, but admits that her favorite dance was the Bhangra. It was the most foreign routine, and so it was also the most satisfying to complete.In 2008, Shawn Johnson, Olympic Medalist: Stories Behind the Smile was published as a behind the scenes look at Johnson%u2019s trip to the Olympics, as both a way to show people she was just a normal kid and to thank the people that had helped her achieve success. In 2012, Johnson took on the daunting task to write full memoir, Winning Balance. During Johnson%u2019s competitive career she kept journals and wrote in them every day. %u201cIn Photo courtesy of Shawn Johnson, Nike