The New York Times

By JULIET MACUR
June 19. 2008

PHILADELPHIA — When the floodwaters rose in Iowa last week and the bloated Raccoon River filled Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute with water that was knee deep, Shawn Johnson suddenly was a gymnast with no gym.

Liang Chow, her coach and the gym’s owner, immediately gave her a pep talk.

“I said, ‘Don’t be worried about this; we will put things back together,’ ” Liang said Tuesday, describing his conversation with Johnson, the favorite to win the all-around at the Beijing Olympics. “We also talked to her parents to make sure she was not panicking.”

The United States Olympic gymnastics trials were less than a week away, and Johnson’s emotions were roiling. But there was no time to be upset. There was an Olympic team to make and an Olympic gold medal to win. So it did not take long for Johnson, a 16-year-old from West Des Moines, to bounce back.

While her gym was being repaired, she worked out at Iowa State University, about 30 miles from her home. On Wednesday, the day before the Olympic trials were set to begin, she sounded as confident as ever. “It was kind of scary, but I think it made me stronger because I had to train at a different gym,” said Johnson, the reigning world champion in the all-around. “Now I think I can handle anything.”

Already, Johnson said, she is dreaming of the moment her name will be called Sunday night at the Wachovia Center here. At least two women will be named to the Olympic team. “I would just cry,” she said of that moment, which would come at the conclusion of a four-day competition involving men and women.

The top two finishers in the all-around, presumably Johnson and Nastia Liukin, automatically earn a spot on the six-member team headed to Beijing. The others will be chosen by a committee headed by Martha Karolyi, the women’s national team coordinator, at a training camp July 20.

Johnson is also considered a lock for the United States team, as is Liukin, who is the only gymnast to beat Johnson in the all-around since Johnson began competing at the senior level last year. Although their rivalry is likely to be one of the hottest topics in Beijing, the two are close friends.

Liukin, who lives in Parker, Tex., grabbed her iPhone on Tuesday to read the text message she sent Johnson after hearing about the floods.

The message said: “Just wanted to make sure you are safe. I’m sorry to hear about the flooding. I hope everything is O.K. Let me know if there’s anything we can do. I know we are far away, but I’m here for you. Love you.” Johnson’s return text message also ended with a “love you.”

“Of all the weeks in the year, out of all the years, why did it have to happen to her now?” Liukin said of the flooding. “Deep down, it’s probably very hard for her, but I think she is a real strong person and that she’ll be O.K.”

By the time Liukin sent her text message to Johnson, Liang, gymnastics officials and a legion of others had already mobilized to help Johnson stay on track for the Olympics.

USA Gymnastics officials called Iowa State to see if Johnson could train there. At least 100 volunteers arrived at Liang’s gym in West Des Moines to rip out the damaged floors, pick mud off the walls and prepare the gym for Johnson’s return.

Johnson was back in the gym by Sunday, working out in a construction zone. While she trained on the uneven bars, there were unfinished concrete floors all around her. While she was on the balance beam, volunteers were putting in a new wooden floor just feet away. Click to Read the Full Article: After Being Displaced by Flooding, Top U.S. Gymnast Springs Back for Trials- New York Times

Her father, Doug, had paid $2,000 for the wood and helped install the new flooring, she said. Doug Johnson, a carpenter, tore his right biceps during that process and will have surgery next week.

None of that work was supposed to happen, said Liang, because the floodwaters were supposed to stay away from his gym. A city engineer told him that his gym would be safe, Liang said.

Still, Liang was cautious. Last Thursday, he and volunteers moved most of his gymnastics equipment to the second floor of the gym. They filled sandbags and placed them around the building.

When Liang went home after midnight, he slept soundly, thinking his gym had been spared. The next day, though, he and Johnson arrived to find fish swimming in the parking lot. Inside, parts of the floors were floating atop what had become an indoor pool.

By the end of the week, everything should be replaced and rebuilt, without any cost to him, said Liang, who has no flood insurance.

“I haven’t paid a penny yet,” he said. “What everyone has done for me and for Shawn, it just touches my heart.”

Posted in: Gymnastics, Liang Qiao, Press, Shawn Johnson |