…or she will be.
Blythe at the Gymblog seems pretty sure that Shawn Johnson is going to walk away with the 2008 Olympic all-around title, just as Carly Patterson did three years ago.
As someone who is rooting heavily for Nastia Liukin, I don’t want to be so sure. I want the competiton to still be up in the air. Now Blythe brought up several good points in Shawn’s favor–her little stress reaction thingy is over, and…well, she’s got the 2.5-twisting Yurchenko, it only remains to be seen if she’s actually going to use it.
At the 2007 Worlds, Johnson won by 1.25 points over Romanian Steliana Nistor and was 1.325 ahead of bronze medalists Jade Barbosa and Vanessa Ferrari, both of whom would have placed above Nistor had Barbosa not fallen on floor and Ferrari on bars.
But even crediting Barbosa and Ferrari with eight tenths by assuming their mistakes were flukes, Johnson is still pacing the field by more than half a point.
True enough. I suppose, then, that Shawn is her own worst enemy from here on out. I mean one fall–just one stinking fall from Shawn on bars–she put her hands down on the dismount–had put her behind Nistor and Liukin in Stuttgart all-around qualifications. Who’s to say Beijing isn’t going to bring the same predicament?
Of course, the important thing is that Shawn hit in finals, when it counted for herself, in the all-around and in floor exercise, but she also didn’t hit when it counted in team finals, when other people were counting on her. Of course, Nastia also has this problem (it’s always the superstars, isn’t it), but she had a wonky ankle and Shawn didn’t.
Or maybe I’m just sick of all the hype surrounding her. I didn’t really care much for Carly, and I don’t think I will care much more for Shawn. I actually feel a little sorry for that, I wish I could like her more.
I never like the Wunderkind. I only start to like them when they get ousted by the next wunderkind. I didn’t like Carly but if she had stuck around, I’d probably be her biggest fan by now.
I’m also not down with a competition being predictable a whole year in advance. What the hell’s the point then?
Mmmm…reaowr! Kitty has claws.
I get what you are saying, i tried to force myself to like shawn as much as i love nastia, but i just cant. Carly never stood out to me after 2004, i was glad an American took the all-aroud, but i kinda forgot her for a while.
commenting late, but i just came across this post and thought i’d drop my few cents:
when i think of Nastia and Shawn, the thing that most comes to mind for me is 1995, when all sorts of gymnastics commentators were touting Dominique Moceanu as America’s best hope for an all-around medal in Atlanta and saying that Shannon Miller was washed up. Miller led the team & won an individual gold, Moceanu…well she was okay. (yes, i’m a fan of both Nastia’s and Miller’s).
i agree with blogomment — if i heard less about how great Shawn is, i would probably like her better. as it is, i think that, while she’s powerful and can throw just about any trick, her gymnastics aren’t that interesting.
and to say that the competition is predictable, that Shawn will necessarily win, doesn’t take into account the possible improvement of other gymnasts, that (with luck) Liukin will be healthy, and that there just might be another prodigy making a splash.
its one of those things that NO one ever knows. Nastia is doing alot better this year…but she tends to crack under pressure a bit. so if she has her A game on and sticks all her routines she can out beat shawn
lets not forget the chinese…yang yilin and jiang