Today was like Christmas for me. And before I elaborate on that statement, I must extend my profuse thanks to NBC for airing World Championship Gymnastics, when every other network found the sport to be unimportant.
No, it isn't NASCAR or the NFL. But the athletes, coaches, families and fans of the sport of Gymnastics are lifers, and are just as (if not more) impassioned by the idea of their sport than any others in the world.
When I was 8, I watched Kim Zmeskel and Shannon Miller battle it out for an all-around medal in Barcelona, Spain at the 1992 Olympic Games. I sat in front of the tv and decided that that was what I wanted for my life.
My first gymnastics class, only a few weeks later (after I precociously walked up to my mother and said "I want to take gymnastics. Today") I walked into the tiny little gym, sat down for warm ups and slid right into my first split. Unassisted. Until I was 14 I trained my heart out with the belief that I could be a champion athlete. Ultimately, my circumstances and my body decided otherwise, and I left my childhood dreams of an olympic medal behind years ago.
I am still, however, a huge fan and proponent of the sport and today my hunch proved correct when Shawn Johnson became the world champion in women's gymnastics. I've been watching her in various competitions for months now, as she runs the marathon trail to Beijing in 08. She is a tiny, athletic bundle of power and cheer. When you watch her compete, you can't help but cheer her on and smile. Her face and demeanor are calm in competition.
Every time her feet land squarely in a competition, my heart soars for her. I did my research; her story is everything I wanted mine to be, and she in her success and disposition is everything I never could be.
Watching her win today was like Christmas for me. Christmas, because Shawn's success in this year leading up to the Olympics is near perfect: Shawn Johnson has one every major title she has competed for this year, and now she is the World Champion. And Christmas, because her record of success gives me (and all of the USA) hope that this might be the little cinderella who can overcome the one smoldering page in US Gymnastics history.
No American Woman has won the title of World Champion and gone on to win an All-Around medal in the Olympics. It's a hurdle - a great one - for the individual psyche. Especially that of a 15 year old.
Cheer for Shawn Johnson.
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