肖恩·約翰遜：走在生活與體操的平衡木上

A Dream Came True夢想成真

With her final chance at a gold medal just minutes away， Shawn Johnson was in the warm-up gym， in a fog.

She had a headache and a stomachache. Her balance beam routine1) was off. Shaky and unsure， she practiced the routine six times， but was plagued2) by mistakes.

Her coach， Liang Qiao， a former Chinese gymnastics star who is now called Chow， knew it was time for drastic3) measures.

\"Shawn， please wake up!\"

And it worked. He had kicked his little prodigy4) into gear5).

Shawn Johnson， the 16-year-old from West Des Moines， Iowa， hit her seventh and final practice routine， and then headed for the balance beam final at the National Indoor Stadium. She hit that routine， too， scoring 16.225 points to win the final women's gymnastics gold medal awarded at the Beijing Games.

Then， finally， she exhaled6).

\"I never felt so proud and so relieved，\" Shawn said of the moment the gold medal was placed around her neck. \"To finish off this whole Olympics by finally getting the gold medal， it's the best feeling in the world.\"

So many times before the Olympics， Shawn said she dreamed of giving Chow a gold medal in his hometown. Finally， she had done it. After more than 10 years together at his Iowa gym， they had reached the pinnacle7) of their sport together.

\"She showed a lot of mental toughness8) to get through some very difficult days here，\" Chow said， \"She showed the maturity， fighting day after day after day. I am so proud of her because I believe she really deserves this gold.\"

肖恩·約翰遜在做熱身體操，再過幾分鐘，她奪金的最后機會就要到了，可是她卻迷迷糊糊的。

肖恩不光頭痛還胃痛。她的平衡木例行動作達不到標準。她有些發抖，缺乏自信心，那套例行動作她已經練習了六次，卻還是出錯，令她煩惱不已。

她的教練喬良以前是中國的體操明星，人們現在都稱他為Chow。喬良知道是時候采取一些嚴厲的措施了。

“肖恩，醒醒！”

這招奏效了。他促使這個小天才進入了狀態。

16歲的肖恩·約翰遜來自衣阿華州西得梅因，她完成了第七次，也是最后一次常規動作練習，然后就走向中國國家體育館的平衡木決賽場地。她這次也順利完成了整套動作，得到了16.225分，摘取了北京奧運會女子體操項目的最后一枚金牌。

直到這時，她才終于松了一口氣。

“我從來沒有感到如此驕傲，而且如此放松過，”肖恩說起金牌掛到她脖子上的那一刻，“最終得到金牌，圓滿地結束這屆奧運會，這是世界上最美妙的感覺。”

早在奧運會之前，肖恩就多次說過，她夢想著在喬良的家鄉為他贏得一枚金牌。終于，她實現了自己的夢想。在喬良位于衣阿華州的體操房一起訓練了十多年之后，他們終于一起登上了運動生涯的巔峰。

“她在這里度過了非常艱難的幾天，但是她卻表現得無比堅強，”喬良說，“她日復一日地在比賽中奮力拼搏，顯得十分成熟。我為她深感自豪，因為我相信她的這枚金牌實至名歸。”

First Step to Gymnastics體操初接觸

肖恩3歲的時候，她的父母就給她報名學習體操，讓她有途徑消耗旺盛的精力。

肖恩6歲時，父母讓她拜師喬良門下，并且給予喬良完全的信任和充分的支持。她父母給喬良定下的唯一條件就是肖恩需要過真正的生活，包括上全日制的公立學校。他們不想讓自己的女兒因為體操而放棄童年。

喬良1991年移居衣阿華州，七年之后他開辦了自己的體操館。他和妻子莊麗文——喬良之前在北京隊的隊友——打算培養年輕的體操運動員。

兩個月后，住在附近的肖恩·約翰遜走進了他們的體操館。小家伙活蹦亂跳的，精力十足。喬良開玩笑說當時肖恩“牙齒還沒有長全，只是個剛剛扔掉尿布的寶寶。”據喬良說，多數她這么大的孩子在訓練的第一天都有些害羞，但是肖恩一下就躍到了高低杠上，“就像體操館是她家一樣。”

師徒二人很快就開始為日后的競爭做準備，但是在真正的生活與體操之間實現了平衡。喬良總負責，莊麗文則訓練肖恩的平衡木和舞蹈。

別的精英體操運動員常常每周訓練40多個小時，肖恩現在訓練26個小時，工作日每天4個小時，周六訓練6個小時。在其他時間里，她的時間安排與典型的高中生別無二致。

“訓練之外的生活讓我心平氣和，腳踏實地，感覺很正常。”肖恩說。

她已經意識到喬良本可以對她更加嚴格苛刻。但是，他和莊麗文卻讓體操充滿了樂趣。肖恩對此十分感激。

即使在最緊張的比賽中，人們都會發現喬良樂呵呵地站在體操場地上。

When Shawn was 3， her parents enrolled her in gymnastics to give her an outlet9) for her energy.

They gave their full trust and support to Chow when Shawn was 6. The parents' only condition for Chow was that Shawn needed to live a real life， which included attending a public school full-time. They did not want their daughter to relinquish10) her childhood to gymnastics.

Chow moved to Iowa in 1991， seven years later， he opened his own gym. He and his wife， Liwen Zhuang—Chow's former teammate on the Beijing city team—wanted to mold11) young gymnasts.

Two months later， into their gym walked a bubbly12)， bouncy13) Shawn Johnson， who lived nearby. Shawn was \"toothless\" and \"only a baby， just after diapers，\" Chow said jokingly. Most children her age are shy on their first day， but she jumped onto the uneven bars14) \"like it was her home，\" he said.

They soon began paving15) a competitive future， but one that balanced real life with gymnastics. Chow was in charge， while Zhuang， coached Shawn on the balance beam and in dance.

Other elite gymnasts often train more than 40 hours a week. Shawn now trains about 26， 4 hours on weekdays and 6 on Saturdays. The rest of the time， she keeps a typical high school student's schedule.

\"My other life keeps me calm and grounded and normal，\" Shawn said.

She has come to realize that Chow could have been harsher and more demanding. Instead， he and Zhuang kept gymnastics fun. And Shawn is grateful for that.

Even at the most tense competitions， Chow can be found on the gymnastics floor， smiling wide.

肖恩3歲的時候，她的父母就給她報名學習體操，讓她有途徑消耗旺盛的精力。

肖恩6歲時，父母讓她拜師喬良門下，并且給予喬良完全的信任和充分的支持。她父母給喬良定下的唯一條件就是肖恩需要過真正的生活，包括上全日制的公立學校。他們不想讓自己的女兒因為體操而放棄童年。

喬良1991年移居衣阿華州，七年之后他開辦了自己的體操館。他和妻子莊麗文——喬良之前在北京隊的隊友——打算培養年輕的體操運動員。

兩個月后，住在附近的肖恩·約翰遜走進了他們的體操館。小家伙活蹦亂跳的，精力十足。喬良開玩笑說當時肖恩“牙齒還沒有長全，只是個剛剛扔掉尿布的寶寶。”據喬良說，多數她這么大的孩子在訓練的第一天都有些害羞，但是肖恩一下就躍到了高低杠上，“就像體操館是她家一樣。”

師徒二人很快就開始為日后的競爭做準備，但是在真正的生活與體操之間實現了平衡。喬良總負責，莊麗文則訓練肖恩的平衡木和舞蹈。

別的精英體操運動員常常每周訓練40多個小時，肖恩現在訓練26個小時，工作日每天4個小時，周六訓練6個小時。在其他時間里，她的時間安排與典型的高中生別無二致。

“訓練之外的生活讓我心平氣和，腳踏實地，感覺很正常。”肖恩說。

她已經意識到喬良本可以對她更加嚴格苛刻。但是，他和莊麗文卻讓體操充滿了樂趣。肖恩對此十分感激。

即使在最緊張的比賽中，人們都會發現喬良樂呵呵地站在體操場地上。

Favorite subject in school: Literature. I like biology (生物)， too， but the human biology side and not the micro-organism (微生物) side. I'm interested in a medical career.

Favorite athletes: Lance Armstrong (蘭斯·阿姆斯特朗)， Shawn White (肖恩·懷特)， Michael Phelps (邁克爾·菲爾普斯)， and Apolo Ohno (阿波羅·歐諾).

Favorite place to travel outside the U.S: London.

Nicest thing you've done for someone else: Handmade cards， personalizing gifts.

If you weren't doing gymnastics， what would you be doing? Studying medicine or kinesiology (運動機能學).

If you could play another sport， what would it be? Diving

If you could add one sport to the Olympic Games， what would it be? Dancing.

Video games or a book? Book.

When did you think you were good enough to make the Olympics? Two or three years ago， when I first made elite (精英).

Biggest fear: Losing a family member.

Lucky charm (隨身護符): I don't believe in luck.

Powerful Moves有力的動作

At 11， Shawn won the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympics Western National Championships on the balance beam. In 2005， Chow boldly sent a tape of a 13-year-old Shawn to Martha Karolyi， the women's national team coordinator16)， suggesting Shawn could help the United States team. Karolyi looked at the tape and saw sparks of brilliance17). Based on that tape， Karolyi invited Shawn to the national team training center.

Since then， Shawn has become the fourth American woman to win a world championship in the all-around competition， she also won a world championship in the floor exercise18).

Since she began competing in senior-level events last year， Shawn has lost only one all-around competition， this year's Tyson American Cup， to her teammate Nastia Liukin. It was the first time Shawn tried a new vault19)， a two-and-a-half twisting layout Yurchenko， one of the most difficult.

She did not land it then， but she lands it now. Those powerful moves， along with her bubbly attitude and brilliant smile， have put Shawn on the cusp20) of becoming an Olympic icon.

肖恩11歲時贏得了美國西部青少年奧林匹克體操錦標賽的冠軍。2005年，喬良大膽地給女子國家隊協調員馬莎·卡羅伊寄去了13歲的肖恩的錄像，暗示肖恩可以幫助美國隊。卡羅伊看了錄像，看到了(肖恩)卓越才華的煥發。根據那盤錄像，卡羅伊邀請肖恩來到國家隊訓練中心。

從那以后，肖恩成為第四個贏得全能比賽世界冠軍的美國女選手，她也奪得了自由體操的世界冠軍。

自從去年開始參加高級別的賽事以來，肖恩只在今年泰森美國杯的全能比賽中輸給了隊友納斯蒂亞·柳金。那是肖恩第一次嘗試新的跳馬動作——尤爾琴科轉體兩周半——這是最難的動作之一。

當時她沒有成功落地，但是這次在奧運會上她成功落地了。這些有力的動作，加上她抖擻的精神和燦爛的微笑，使肖恩成為奧林匹克偶像中的頂尖人物。

A Perfect Ending 完美結局

Sometimes， Shawn also felt a burden. Twice， she told her parents that she wanted to quit because she was afraid of not living up to expectations—once as a much younger gymnast and later when she made the junior national team in 2005.

Her parents simply told her to sleep on it. Each time， Shawn changed her mind.

\"It always came at turning points，\" Teri Johnson， Shawn's father said， \"She just said， 'I don't know if I could do this.'\"

In order to escape the stress， Shawn often writes poems， draws or paints. Last winter， she wrote a poem called \"Champion，\" which begins:

You fear the loss and pain of defeat;

But still are able to stand on two feet;

You crumble21) and cry as much as you want;

But nothing can keep you away from the hunt.

Shawn said she uses poetry as a way to \"get things out.\" When it counted， though， with every gold lost here and every silver won， she kept her composure22).

On the final day， at the last possible moment， Shawn became the champion she had written about.

\"I knew in my heart what I needed to do out there，\" she said， \"And I just went out there and did it. It was just a perfect ending.\"

有時候，肖恩也有思想包袱。她曾經兩次告訴父母，說自己想退出比賽，因為她怕自己不能達到別人的期望——第一次時，她還是個很年輕的體操運動員，后來一次是在2005年被選進青少年國家隊的時候。

她的父母只告訴她睡一覺之后再決定。每一次，肖恩都改變了主意。

“在轉折點的時候總會出現這種情況，”肖恩的父親泰里·約翰遜說，“她只是說，‘我不知道能否成功。’”

為了擺脫壓力，肖恩經常寫詩或者繪畫。去年冬天，她寫了一首名為《冠軍》的詩，詩的開篇這樣寫道：

失利總讓你疼痛讓你失落；

但你仍會堅強地再次拼搏；

多少次你默默地哭泣難過；

但什么都無法阻止你對勝利的執著。

肖恩說她用這首詩來“穩定情緒”。在那些關鍵的時候，雖然錯失一枚枚金牌，獲得一枚枚銀牌，她總能保持鎮定。

在最后一天，在最后可能奪冠的那一刻，肖恩成為了自己詩中所描寫的冠軍。

“我心里知道在比賽時該怎么做，”她說，“我只要在場上比賽時發揮正常，就是這個完美的結局。”