You have to hand it to Shawn Johnson -- the girl is full of surprises.
Less than two weeks after Johnson released the first of what she promises will be several training videos chronicling her elite comeback, Iowa TV station KCCI has revealed more training footage.
Reaction to Johnson's first video on this site ranged from delight -- "To me she looks great considering she's coming back from reconstructive surgery and was out of the gym for such a long time," one commenter wrote -- to disappointment. "Thought she'd be further along," wrote another.
Doubting fans are likely to be more impressed by this second video, which shows Johnson doing a double layout onto a soft surface and later on, a second double layout -- with a full twist on the second flip. This new video appears to have been filmed after the first one; Johnson, training in a tight black t-shirt, appears more muscular and tumbling a bit less tentatively.
The double layout (or double layout full out) is likely to be a replacement for Johnson's tucked double double first pass on floor that she used in 2008. Given that she has grown several inches since the Beijing Olympics, it seems unlikely that Johnson would be able to keep the double double within bounds.
The video also features Keely McNeer, an Olympic hopeful who moved from Louisiana to Iowa to train with Johnson and coach Liang Chow. McNeer finished 15th all-around at the 2010 U.S. Junior Championships.
Video: Watch a larger version by clicking the icon to the left of this article.
(via Aunt Joyce's Ice Cream Stand)
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Comments
I don't understand how a double/double could be impossible for her ... gymnasts taller than her current height do it all the time (not even including the men). Is there something specific about her run, or some other factor?
Weird, how they morphed Mcneer into Johnson in the last pass ... some techie somewhere had a few minutes on his hands :-)
Given that she has grown several inches since the Beijing Olympics, it seems unlikely that Johnson would be able to keep the double double within bounds
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Why do you think so? Cheng Fei was taller than Shawn's current height in Beijing and Cheng did a great doube double.
Shawn got great height and distance on her double double for someone of her stature, whereas Cheng Fei had more height than distance. Now that Shawn's taller, her strides will be longer and she'd likely need more floor area to keep the double double in bounds. (She was already pretty close to the tape when she landed it in 2008).
That doesn't mean she's definitively going to take it out, and it doesn't mean that she wouldn't be able to perform it successfully if she wanted to. But it's evident that she's exploring other options. -- Blythe
That DLO and FTDLO totally change the discussion. No gaurantee of course, that she will make it back to prominence. But she is in the mix, now. Lot of people thought she would just fizzle out and not hvae the interest. Or not even be able to do double tucks. But she looks like she could at least get back to a Beiger level of difficulty, probably more, really. Hope she cuts a few more pounds, it will help her...
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