Shawn Johnson Receives Her Gold Medal

As we all waited yesterday evening with baited breath to see if Shawn Johnson could beat the Chinese gymnasts and Nastia Liukin, we were yet again surprised by the large scores that the Chinese gymnastic team put up. It appears that no matter the wobble that Li Shanshan had that she was still going to get a high score on beam. However it appears that although the scores started very high they continued to escalate especially for Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin.

Shawn Johnson kept her brilliant smile all throughout the beam competition although she was feeling unwell prior to her routine. She excelled through the whole piece barely having any balance checks and executing her skills flowingly as the beam requires. The only stumble was again at the landing where she did not stick it. However Shawn Johnson still glowed as she walked off, you could tell how proud she was of her effort.

Nastia Liukin went after Shawn Johnson and she also did a beautiful job of accomplishing her gymnastic routine, however the start up score for Nastia's was just slight below Shawn's which is what allowed Shawn to secure her Gold medal. Nastia Liukin as always less shiny in her response was happy to have won another medal as well.

Shawn Johnson's parents were even crying in the stands as they looked on at their daughter when they definitely knew she had won the Gold Medal. Shawn's coach Liang Chow looked very pleased with himself over the whole night and that Shawn had pushed through feeling badly to actually win the last event of gymnastics for the Beijing Olympics.

Shawn also stated in a later interview that although she had worn herself out completely that she was thinking about going to the London Olympics in 2012. As with everything other proud American watching last evening I believe we all hope she does come back to show off that brilliant smile again.