Johnson close to making her gymnastics return

By Rob Gray

AMES - The adoring crowd stood and applauded.

Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson beamed - until the lengthy video chronicling her myriad on-the-mat accomplishments flickered on the Jack Trice Stadium big screen.

“That's a long tape,” said Johnson, who still smiled, but occasionally averted her eyes from the personal tribute as she prepared to address hundreds at Friday's rain-drizzled opening ceremonies for the 25th Iowa Games.

“Every time I watch it, I get, like, all teary eyed; it brings back all these emotions. ... It's so much more real now because I'm actually competing (soon) for the first time since (the 2008 Olympics at) Beijing. So It's a lot scarier to watch.”

Johnson, who won gold in the balance beam in 2008, announced in May she planned to attempt to qualify for the 2012 Olympics.

She will compete for the first time in nearly three years July 23 at the USA Gymnastics Cover Girl Classic in Chicago.

But until early last year, Johnson, 19, remained uncertain about competing again.

That's when a flash point moment helped her subconscious mind ignite a concrete, comeback decision.

“I went skiing on my eighteenth birthday,” said Johnson, who also won Silver at Beijing in the all-around and floor exercise events. “Tore my knee, did a full reconstruction, and I remember the very first thing I thought about was, ‘What if I can't do gymnastics anymore?' And I had taken two years off and that's the one thing that came back to me. I thought it said something, so I went back into the gym after six months rehab and recovery and got started.”

Johnson's coach, Liang Chow, expressed skepticism about her return.

Johnson said easing back into the gym came with rust attached.

“Incredibly difficult,” the former “Dancing with the Stars” champion said. “I remember the first couple times I was going back in the gym I was getting shown up by, like, these 7-year-olds. I was like, ‘I can do 50 pull-ups,' and I like go for one and like, ‘Oh, no,' you know?”

Self-effacing moments such as these diverge from a life that's now fully bathed in the spotlight.

Johnson, who is listed by the BBC as an athlete to watch for the 2012 Games, has become a darling of the corporate world (“I'm a Nike girl,” she said. “I'm so excited.”)

But can she start all over, qualify, thrive and win another Gold?

She shrugged and smiled at the question.

“People compete to win - that's always going to be in your head,” Johnson said. “But my whole journey back, those whole comeback, isn't about unfinished business, on not getting the gold, or I'm going back just for the gold. I'm coming back simply because I miss the sport.”

It's also another day lived in the gym, where Johnson's lofty dreams began tumbling toward superstardom some 16 years ago.

“I'd say I'm happier than I've been in the past two years,” she said, “because I'm home.”