[quote]SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Shawn Johnson parked herself on Alicia Sacramone's lap to watch the end of the meet, looking every bit the kid she still is.[/quote]
weird lol. no other seats available? maybe they will show it on Sunday's NBC coverage of the Visa Championships.
[quote]"It's funny to watch her because she looks so mature and centered and focused," Sacramone said. "Then when you get her out of the gym, she really is that, a kid. It's so much fun to see her in both worlds."[/quote]
Shawn said in an interview she feels like a baby, a newbie. It's her first senior nationals, but last year at junior nationals she got a higher score than Nastia's score at senior nationals - is the same judges? different scale?
The article says she's 4'8"; but she said she's 4'9" in a tv interview earlier this year, and also it's in another article too.
[quote]And despite swearing she does get nervous, she appears to be the picture of calm. When she finished uneven bars, her final event, coach Liang Chow threw up his arms in triumph and swept her into a hug. She grinned, then waved happily to the cheering crowd.
"Let's put it this way, she did a very good job on the day you want," Chow said. "It's the first time for her to be in the senior category, and she handled it really well."[/quote]
[quote]
"Thursday was basically a fluke," Sacramone said. "It's good to come back strong. It was redemption for me."
One gymnast who won't be going to Germany is Jana Bieger, last year's world silver medalist. Despite a foot injury in March, she was thought to be a lock coming into nationals. But she hurt herself with falls on several events and a few more sloppy routines.
"That's a little bit sad," said Martha Karolyi, coordinator of the national team. "If I were to be honest, I was hoping she would make it. But it looks like the time of preparation she had after her injury just wasn't there for her to build up to the confidence level she had."[/quote]
[quote]Does she have the stuff of a world champion?
"There is that possibility. Those are big words," said Karolyi, who once coached Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton. "But if she keeps going on this path, I see a good future for her."[/quote]
