Shawn Johnson

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

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

“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.'”

“I'm doing four hours of gymnastics training a day, six days a week and then an extra two to three hours in a fitness center as well.”

“It sounds funny, but the 2008 Olympics were something that just kind of happened, and I was lucky they came at a point when I was uninjured and well prepared. As a gymnast, you can't ask for much more.”

“My parents- they've been my biggest influences and supporters since day one. They teach me every day that happiness comes from within and not from something outside of your heart.”

“When I was younger, my coach, Liang Chow, made all the decisions. I would go to the gym for practice, do exactly what Chow told me to do, go home, come back and start all over again. If Chow told me to do 50 squat jumps, I did 50 squat jumps.”

“I'm pleased to say my knee feels a lot better. It's still not back to normal, and I don't know if it ever will be, but I'm learning to deal with it instead of expecting it to be like it was before.”

“I have a chaperone everywhere I go - my mom.”

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

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

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

“I'm trying to stay as calm as possible and focus one day at a time, but when reality sets in, I feel everything: anxiety, excitement, nerves, pressure and joy.”