2008 Olympic gold-medalist Shawn Johnson recently travelled to Indianapolis to promote the 2015 P&G Gymnastics Championships, scheduled for Aug. 13-16 at Bankers Life Field House, through appearing at several Indianapolis activities and participating in a gymnastics performance clinic at St. Vincent Sports Performance Northwest.
She kicked off the weekend by speaking to nearly 50 rising area gymnasts and helping them at a performance clinic under the auspices of SVSP personnel. In addition to a slew of media interviews, Johnson signed autographs and started the Rookie Run at the 500 Festival’s Kid’s Day and attended the Angie’s List Grand Prix, where she connected with fellow “Dancing with the Stars” alumni Helio Castreneves. She wrapped up the weekend at the Kenny Chesney concert at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Single session tickets, as well as all-session and multi-session ticket packages, are on sale now. Tickets may be purchased at Ticketmaster through ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster charge by phone 1-800-745-3000 or at participating Walmart locations in Central Indiana and Bankers Life Fieldhouse Box Office. Tickets are also available at a discounted price through participating local gymnastics clubs. Go to PGChamps.com for more information.
The Indiana Sports Corp, Pacers Sports & Entertainment, the City of Indianapolis and the State of Indiana are the event’s local organizers. St. Vincent Sports Performance is the official medical and performance nutrition provider of USA Gymnastics and the 2015 P&G Gymnastics Championships. Indianapolis has served as the headquarters for USA Gymnastics since 1983.
The 2015 P&G Gymnastics Championships, USA Gymnastics’ national championships, features the country’s best gymnasts vying for U.S. titles and spots on the U.S. National Team in men’s and women’s gymnastics. Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast, Calif./Team Hilton HHonors (University of Michigan), and Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre, won the men’s and women’s U.S. all-around titles, respectively, in 2013-14. Biles recently won her second straight World all-around title, along with gold World medals for team, balance beam and floor exercise and the vault silver.
Johnson earned four medals (two gold and two silver) at the 2008 Olympics Games in Beijing, China. Johnson helped the U.S. women win the team silver at the 2008 Olympics and went on to win the balance beam gold medal and the silver medal in the all-around and floor exercise. Following the Olympics, she became a household name when she won the title for season eight of “Dancing with the Stars”; made guest appearances on TV shows such as “Make It or Break It” and “The Secret Life of an American Teenager”; and served as a judge for the Miss USA pageant. After a two-year break, Johnson went back to training with coach Liang Chow and was named to the U.S. National Team in November 2010. At the 2011 Pan American Games, she helped the USA win the team title and also claimed the uneven bars silver medal. Her efforts to make the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team were cut short due to a nagging knee injury from a skiing accident. In 2012, Johnson competed in the “Dancing with the Stars All Star Edition,” and more recently, she appeared on “Celebrity Apprentice.” She has also written two autobiographies. During her gymnastics career, she was a member of the team that won the gold medal at the 2007 World Championships, just the second World team title in U.S. history and the first at a World Championships held outside of the United States. Johnson won the 2007 World all-around and floor exercise titles. Johnson along with Kim Zmeskal (1991), Shannon Miller (1993-94), Chellsie Memmel (2005), Bridget Sloan (2009), Jordyn Wieber (2011) and Simone Biles (2013-14) are the only U.S. women to win a World all-around title. 2007 was the first time the USA won both the team and all-around gold medals at the same World Championships. The World Championships Team was named the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Team of the Year for 2007 and was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2013.