Shawn Johnson update: back in training

Posted by: thecscore on: December 9, 2008

• In: Gymnast updates | Mini-rants
• 5 Comments

As first reported by Andrea at Live.Breath.Love.Gymnastics, Shawn Johnson has posted to her official blog that she is back in the gym training.

Shawn Johnson is back in the gym

In addition to getting back into shape with a personal trainer, Johnson reports that she will be on a new Cheerios box. Apparently she is the first athlete to be featured by Cheerios. Recall that Nastia Liukin was offered the Wheaties box over Johnson when Liukin won the all-around. I actually think it’s been really good for gymnastics that both girls have been embraced by the media; it’s double the coverage for this sport.

I am really happy to hear that Johnson is back in the gym. I think she still has a lot of gymnastics in her, particularly because of the low injury rate she’s had. Moreover, as I’ve previously said, I really appreciate that she keeps a good balance with school and gymnastics. I think that’s helped her in the past and, more importantly, I think it will help her for this next stage.

Weird SJ merchandise

While I’m on the topic of her Web site, *what* is up with her store? I can imagine a lot of kids (or their parents) would pony up for Shawn Johnson t-shirts, sweatshirts, whatever, but her store only sells this weird jewelry based on the Beijing Olympic mascots. And it’s expensive! Who is buying the diamond pendants for $750? The cheapest thing is thirty dollars; I suppose that’s not so bad. On the other hand, it’s not really SJ-related, but Olympics-related. Sometimes you gotta wonder. If I were a parent, I’d buy my kid this “Team Johnson” shirt from cafepress.com instead.

Peace, Love, Shawn Johnson

And while we’re on the subject of questionable merchandise, USA Gymnastics announced that GK will be releasing a whole line of SJ leotards featuring her signature and the dreaded peace sign. We know she loves it, but come on. I suppose I’m not the target audience though. The collection, and I am not kidding, is called “Peace, Love, Shawn Johnson.”

Endorsement deals are fine. And honestly, I like the colors of the sample leotard posted here. I suppose it isn’t too egregious when you compare it to a lot of other gymnastics fashion.

Tags: Shawn Johnson