Shawn Johnson

Born on Jan. 19, 1992 in Des Moines, IA, Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Shawn Johnson began her athletic career at three years old when her parents enrolled her in gymnastics class after finding her jumping and tumbling off of tables. At six, she joined forces with former gymnast and coach Liang Chow, who went on to steer Johnson to Olympic silver at the 2008 games in Beijing. Training less than others her age, Johnson was able to maintain honor roll grades while attending Valley High School in West Des Moines. Meanwhile, she qualified for Junior Elite Status on her first try, then garnered attention in 2005 when she placed third in the junior division at the U.S. Classic. The following year, she won the U.S. Junior National All-Around Championship. In 2007, she made the jump to the senior division, where she won the all-around at the Tyson American Cup. Also that year, she won four gold medals at the Pan American Games, then won the all-around at the U.S. National Championships - a feat she repeated the following year.