Background and career
Shawn Johnson East (born Shawn Machel Johnson; January 19, 1992) is an American former artistic gymnast. She is the 2008 Olympic balance beam gold medalist and team, all-around and floor exercise silver medalist. Johnson is also the 2007 all-around World Champion, and a five-time Pan American Games gold medalist, winning the team titles in 2007 and 2011, as well as titles in the all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam in 2007. Johnson became a member of the U.S. senior team in 2007. Her rookie season included winning the all-around at the American Cup, Pan American Games, U.S. National Championships, and World Championships. Johnson is also the 2007 individual all-around World Champion, 2007 World Champion on floor exercise, and a member of the 2007 gold medal-winning U.S. gymnastics team. As well as being the 2007 U.S. Champion on balance beam and floor exercise, the 2008 U.S. Champion on floor exercise and silver medalist on balance beam, Johnson is a three-time U.S. all-around Champion, winning once as a junior and twice as a senior. In May 2009, Johnson was the winner of season eight of Dancing with the Stars, and in November 2012 she earned second place on the all-star edition. Johnson announced her retirement from gymnastics on June 3, 2012.
Johnson was born in Des Moines, Iowa on January 19, 1992, the daughter of Doug and Teri Johnson. Her parents enrolled her in a gymnastics class at age 3, after they noticed her climbing cabinets and jumping off tables. At age 6, Johnson was one of Liang Chow's first students when he opened a gymnastics school in West Des Moines, and he would go on to coach Johnson for nearly two decades as a competitive gymnast. "Chow is like a father to me, we've been with each other for so long," Johnson said in 2012. Johnson attended Valley High School. She was on the honor roll and liked to attend football games and dances. Through 2008, Johnson maintained a more balanced lifestyle than typical of elite female gymnasts. She limited her gymnastics training to 25 hours per week, as opposed to the more typical 40 hours. Johnson left public school in the spring of 2009. She and her mother relocated to Los Angeles, California, before appearing on Dancing with the Stars. In 2010, she finished high school with a private tutor. She enrolled at Vanderbilt University in 2013, but withdrew before classes began. Johnson is married to Andrew East, a professional football long snapper who played for the Vanderbilt Commodores in college and the Washington Commanders (then the Redskins) in 2018. They were engaged on July 24, 2015, at Wrigley Field during a Chicago Cubs game and were married on April 16, 2016, in Franklin, Tennessee. They live in Nashville, Tennessee. In November 2015, she revealed that she had suffered from an eating disorder in 2008 in the lead-up to the 2008 Olympics. She admitted she would eat approximately 700 calories per day. In October 2017, Johnson revealed through a YouTube video that she had been pregnant, but suffered a miscarriage. In April 2019, Johnson and her husband announced they were expecting their first child. Their daughter was born on October 29, 2019. In January 2021, Johnson and her husband announced that they were expecting their second child. Their son was born on July 19, 2021. In July 2023, Johnson and her husband announced on their YouTube channel that they were expecting their third child. Their second son was born December 12, 2023. In February 2022, Johnson and her husband joined the ownership group of Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League.
When she was 12, Johnson competed in the Developmental Program- (U.S. Level 10 National Championships, finishing fourth in the all-around, first on beam, and second on floor. As a youngster, Johnson was not invited to USA Gymnastics' national team training camps, and her coach, Liang Chow, had no interactions with the national staff. In 2005, Chow sent the National Team Coordinator, Marta Karolyi, a video of Johnson with the comment "I believe this kid will help the U.S. team." Karolyi felt the action was audacious, commenting, "Wow, this coach is pretty confident", but she soon invited Johnson to national team training camps.
Johnson qualified Junior International Elite on her first attempt. She attracted widespread attention at the 2005 U.S. Classic, where she placed third. At the 2005 U.S. National Championships, Johnson fell from the beam on the first day of competition and finished tenth all-around. In 2006, Johnson added several new skills, including a Jaeger on bars, and two top-difficulty (G) skills, a full-in back-out dismount off beam and a double-twisting double back on floor. She won the 2006 U.S. Junior National All-Around Championship with a score higher than any of her senior elite competitors.
Johnson became a senior in 2007 and continued to show new skills, including a double-twisting double layout dismount off the uneven bars. She competed at the American Cup, winning the all-around over teammate Natasha Kelley. Johnson also competed in the 2007 Pan American Games, winning four gold medals (team, all-around, beam and bars) and a silver on floor. Johnson won the all-around at the 2007 Visa U.S. National Championships, beating Shayla Worley by more than three points.
Johnson represented the U.S. at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships along with Nastia Liukin, Shayla Worley, Alicia Sacramone, Ivana Hong, and Samantha Peszek. In prelims (qualification), Johnson scored 16.250 on beam, 15.150 on floor, 15.175 on vault, and (with a fall on her dismount) 14.625 on bars. The U.S. finished first in prelims and Johnson qualified to the all-around, beam, and floor finals. Johnson performed all four events in the team finals; the only U.S. athlete to do this. Johnson scored 15.375 on bars and floor, and 15.150 on vault. She fell on the beam on her handspring-handspring-layout series and scored 15.025. The team won gold with 184.400 points, 0.950 ahead of silver-medal China. It was the second U.S. team gold in the World Championships. In the all-around finals, Johnson scored a 15.175 on vault, 15.375 on bars, 15.900 on beam and 15.425 on floor. Her 61.875 total made her the fourth American woman to win the all-around gold medal. During event finals, Johnson first competed on the balance beam, where she fell on her standing full and on her switch side leap, scoring a 14.475 and finishing last. In floor exercise, she went out-of-bounds on her first tumbling pass, but won the gold with a 15.250, just eclipsing teammate Sacramone.
