<p>Could she be any cuter??</p>
<p>Maybe when she turns 16. ;)</p>
<p>Isn’t she adorable Barrons? And Nastia as well. Boy are those young ladies special and obviously raised with class and dignity. God bless 'em.</p>
<p>I think she’s adorable. When she gives that beaming smile, she reminds me of Mary Lou Retton.</p>
<p>Sometimes some people here just have nothing to add but a defamatory false statement…</p>
<p>[Shawn</a> Johnson balances fame with everyday school life | DesMoinesRegister.com | The Des Moines Register](<a href=“http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080727/NEWS/807270340]Shawn”>http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080727/NEWS/807270340)</p>
<p>She is a cutie and has dealt with “not-winning” very well at these Olympics (which is a lot harder than dealing with “winning”).</p>
<p>^I totally agree. She was a joy to watch and so very gracious all the time.</p>
<p>It’s awfully hard for me to think of Shawn Johnson as “cute”. She is so muscular, powerful, and concentrated, that the cutie-pie face always looks like the velvet glove over an iron fist to me. She is serious as an assault rifle as far as I am concerned.</p>
<p>However, I heartily agree with everyone about how magnificently she is handling herself. I have to believe that she has had some PR coaching along with the gymnastics, but she clearly has natural talent for it as well. I heard her talking about the individual floor exercise, and how everyone thinks that she’s hoping her rivals fall, but she isn’t, because she knows how much work and sacrifice it takes to get to this level, and she hopes everyone gets to do her best. And I believed her. She could be my spokesmodel any day.</p>
<p>I loved her never-ending smile last night as she won the Gold.</p>
<p>“I have to believe that she has had some PR coaching along with the gymnastics”</p>
<p>I sure hope so. If the adults in her life had let her get to this point on the world stage without offering some lessons on dealing with publicity, that would border on neglect IMHO. They’ve clearly given her wise guidance, and good for her that she’s smart and mature enough to follow it. Lord knows many celebrities in their 40s and older don’t handle themselves that well.</p>
<p>And look at the wrestler who threw his bronze medal down in a fit of pique!</p>
<p>I think Nastia, is beautiful performing, but she’s not cute the way Shawn is. She’s more of an ice queen to me. She behaved very well about the tie-breaker. I think they’ve both been great reps for the US.</p>
<p>Shawn has a gold medal, a fabulous smile, grace under pressure, … a PR person’s dream. Watching her last night, I commented that she was going to be wealthy when the sponsorships come in, and S2 said yep, set for life. She’s poised to be America’s new sweetheart.</p>
<p>I’m glad she got a gold. I thought Nastia did very well, too - more elegant. But Shawn is a little tank; incredible athlete.</p>
<p>Regarding the publicity coaching, I noticed that during the first interview I saw with her, after Nastia had won, Shawn kept using the word “proud” - I’m so proud to be here, I couldn’t be prouder of her, I’m just so proud… etc. I said then that I suspected she’d been given a few phrases to recite in different situations. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I’ve been known to coach my own kids on how to respond to certain situations, when we anticipated that it might be an awkward or foreign situation for them.</p>
<p>I watched Nastia on Leno last night. She seemed like a terrific girl in every way. </p>
<p>It was a joy to watch “our” gymnastics girls this Olympics. Last time, they seemed overly glittered & sort of fake-nice. That doesn’t mean they WERE that way … just struck me that way from what little I saw of them. This year’s squad seemed wholesome, genuinely nice, kind to the girls on other teams. I thought they represented themselves & our country extremely well.</p>
<p>kelsmom, i saw Nastia on Leno, too. What a terrific young lady she is! And according to the article in the Sports Illustrated (grrrr, had to buy it for DD because Phelps’ mug was on the cover), she and Shawn roomed together in Beijing because the two of them like the same things: going to bed early, reading books and writing in their journals before going to sleep. And they were too shy to chase Phelps for an autograph. 
Awww, I love these girls!</p>
<p>Shawn’s fans - watch the new season of Dancing with the Stars ;)</p>
<p>I can hardly wait. I hope she dances with Derek, last year’s winner. I love his choreography.</p>
<p>She is so tiny (4’9"). Something tells me they’re going to have to bring in a new pro for her to dance with. Of course, they will pair her with someone young, but he has to be shorter. Derek is 5’10". I don’t think they could dance together.</p>
<p>We are so excited that she’s going to be on DWTS, but I was thinking the same thing. She’d look ridiculous with a tall guy and the moves would be awkward. Surely there’s an awesome 5’3" male dancer out there.</p>
<p>missypie, I think a 5’6" or 5’7" guy will be just fine. The heels will take care of much height difference I’m just praying she is not going to end up with a foot injury due to those shoes.</p>