Shawn Johnson Quotes

Injury taught me I need to learn how to face challenges.

I live for Pilates reformer class. I go at least three times a week. It's a great way to lengthen your muscles, stretch, and kind of relax your mind.

In some ways the ACL tear was a blessing. I had hesitated to return to elite gymnastics after the 2008 Olympics. I told myself I had already accomplished so much, and the road was just going to get harder if I continued.

I set my phone with motivational quotes to go off on random days and times. Like, 'You're stronger than you think you are.' I'll forget about it, then one will pop up and it'll give me a little boost.

Gymnastics is not only a good thing to live by, but it is important to understand how it does help you in life.

When I was 3 my parents put me in gymnastics because I was a bundle of energy and they just didn't know what to do with me! They put me in a Tots class and I just fell in love with it.

That's the drama of our sport. Our margin of error is so small that anything can happen.

I don't want to be all power and muscle.

I think it's important for girls at a young age to be involved in as many things as possible. Especially safe communities of people that teach them great life lessons like self-confidence and courage. And getting girls to go to camp especially in the summer where they can meet new friends, learn new things, and not just sit at home and watch TV.

I think about my goals. There were a lot of times in gymnastics when I really didn't want to go in and train, but you can't make it to the Olympics if you don't train!

I have a lot of expectations and a lot of goals I want to fulfill, but the biggest dream is still to make the Olympic team for London.

People put too much emphasis on looks.

I was able to do Classics, the U.S. national championships and the Pan American Games and feel like I improved with each meet, but I was still struggling with a lot of residual pain from the two surgeries.

The body is an amazing machine... If you eat the right things your body will perform incredibly well!

Something my mom taught me when I was little is that everything happens for a reason. Retiring was scary and it was tough to give up gymnastics, but so many great opportunities have come from it that I never expected. And those wouldn't have happened had I not accepted my injury as a way to try something new.

A comeback in gymnastics is almost impossible in itself.

My coach, Liang Chow, had one rule while I was training for the 2008 Olympics: no skiing. I could do anything I wanted outside the gym, he said, except ski.

It might have been easier to retire, to say my knee couldn't handle it and let that be that. At the same time, the prospect of not being able to compete in gymnastics anymore was heartbreaking.

If you lose the nerves, you lose the sport.

I started taking gymnastic classes when I was 3 years old.

I was always trying to be leaner and thinner to fit the standard and the mold.

It's been strange and weird watching the other girls at the U.S. Olympic trials just because I was training to be out there myself.

I feel like if you compare the commentary, what's covered with female athletics, as with men. On any given day, if a guy competes, you're going to critique his technique and his performance, training. With a girl, you don't do the same thing. You might mention a little bit of that, but you're also going to get what she was wearing, how she performed, what she looked like. I feel like it should be the same.

I have a chaperone everywhere I go - my mom.

Gymnastics has made me strong. I feel like it broke me down to my lowest point, but at the same time, it has given me the greatest strength anyone could ask for.

To have any doubt in your body is the biggest weakness an athlete can have.

I fell in love with running, and I finally have time to do it now.

I missed being considered an athlete and having that competitive drive, and missed having something to work for every day. I'd taken two and a half years away from the sport and was out of shape. I wanted to get back to where I was in 2008.

Staying healthy and consistent is paramount.

I pay attention to my diet to be a healthier gymnast, but I'm not obsessive over it.

Everything is about your movements and precision and timing, which is what gymnastics is about.

Something my mom taught me when I was little is that everything happens for a reason.

I have a healthy lifestyle, but there's nothing you can really do to prevent from rolling an ankle or something like that.

Well-I don't know if anyone would really ask me to prom.

Critique the performance, and respect the hard work put in.

Gymnastics taught me everything - life lessons, responsibility and discipline and respect.

I always have someone to look up to, and I think it helps me with motivating myself.

I started from zero and went back to the basics in gymnastics.

I had a constant fear, a constant little doubt in my mind: 'OK, I'm getting ready to do my standing back full on beam and I might re-tear my ACL.'

To have any doubt in your body is the biggest weakness an athlete can have. There are times when I physically can't get myself to go for a skill because I'm thinking, 'My knee hurts really bad.'

I was at the Olympic Games winning medals and I still doubted my image. I doubted what I looked like. That's sad.

I had surgery to repair the ACL in February 2010 and was back in the gym by June, but rushed things too quickly and ended up re-tearing my MCL in September.

Hot yoga is the best. When you're in [class], there are no cell phones, no talking, no distractions. You're taking a leave from reality for an hour or so.

There's always a chance. Anything can happen.

As long as you've done your best, making mistakes doesn't matter. You and I are human; we will mess up. What counts is learning from your mistakes and getting back up when life has knocked you down.

I don't call them sacrifices. I call them exchanges.

I know how much more I need to do to be where I want.

I feel like when there's so much conversation about women's athletics right now, we need to focus on their performance and their skill.