CHICAGO — No gold or silver for Shawn Johnson this time.
More like rust.
Johnson struggled in her first competition since the Beijing Olympics on Saturday night, falling off balance beam and pitching forward on the dismount of her uneven bars routine at the CoverGirl Classic, a qualifier for next month's national championships. Neither of her scores, a 13.55 on bars and a 13.3 on beam, was in the top five.
"It didn't go as planned. I made some mistakes," Johnson said. "But it's my first meet back. I've gotten the nerves out."
And Johnson will get another crack at competition in just three weeks after USA Gymnastics officials approved her petition for nationals, Aug. 17-20 in St. Paul, Minn.
While Johnson was shaky, her 2008 teammates Chellsie Memmel and Alicia Sacramone were rock solid. Memmel, the 2005 world champion, only got serious about her comeback in January, but it looked as if the 23-year-old had never been away as she finished second in the all-around and qualified for nationals with a score of 56.95. Sacramone finished first on vault and beam, and was third on floor exercise.
"It gives me a lot of confidence going into championships," Memmel said. "I know that I can hit."
Johnson was one of the poster athletes in Beijing, and she needed time off after winning four medals — a gold on balance beam and silvers in the all-around, team competition and floor exercise. She won "Dancing With the Stars," carried the Olympic torch before the Vancouver Games and crisscrossed the country making commercial appearances. Only 16 in Beijing, she talked about coming back for the London Games. Would even drop by her old gym whenever she was home in Des Moines.
But elite gymnastics leaves little room for anything else, and Johnson was having too much fun being a "normal" teenager.
Until she blew out her knee, that is.
Tearing the ACL, MCL and meniscus in her left knee, along with her hamstring, during a January 2010 ski trip made Johnson realize she missed gymnastics and wanted another shot at the Olympics. She headed straight from the doctor's office to the gym, where she and longtime coach Liang Chow began plotting out her comeback. She had made enough progress to be invited to the monthly training camps at the Karolyi ranch in November, and was back on the national team in February.
Training in her own gym or at the ranch is one thing, however. Getting out in front of an arena full of people is quite another.
"I ate breakfast and that was it," Johnson said. "I was afraid anything that went in was going to come back up."
Johnson looked nervous as she waited for the go-ahead signal on bars, her first event, rolling her toes as she stood on the takeoff board and taking several deep breaths. Her routine was solid, almost effortless. When she flew from the high bar to the low bar, she came to a dead stop in a perfect handstand — not easy to do when you've got all that momentum going.
But Johnson had tweaked her knee during practice Tuesday, and didn't do many dismounts in the days after to protect the joint. That was in her head in the air and she landed a little short, taking such a big bounce forward that her forehead almost hit the mat.
The mistake was still in her mind as she went to balance beam, and she dropped off on her opening aerial sequence. She also had a big wobble on a turn, needing several seconds to steady herself.
"I haven't done this in a while," Johnson said. "I'm learning how to push past the mistakes."
She recovered nicely, though, landing back to back aerial somersaults with such ease the beam looked as if it was on flat ground rather than 4 feet in the air. Chow gave her an encouraging pat on the back when she finished, and she smiled as she and the other competitors exchanged hugs.
"This is a great testing event for Shawn," Chow said. "We've got to start somewhere."
Instead of being discouraged, the outing only makes Johnson more determined.
"I want to get back in the gym now," she said.
Memmel's comeback is still in such early stages she hasn't even been to a national team training camp yet. But she put on the kind of clutch, world-class performance that has become her trademark — despite a serious case of nerves.
"I don't know if I've ever been that nervous," she said. "It's been, like, three years off. I was feeling it in my stomach."
Her floor routine alone was worth the price of admission, and Britney Spears might want to think about borrowing a few of the moves in Memmel's sultry, techno pop number. Her tumbling passes were so huge, the folks in the first rows had to crane their necks to watch, and most of her landings were so secure it was as if she had glue on the bottom of her feet.
Her only real flaw of the night was on balance beam, where she had a big wobble on an aerial somersault. Her vault also was one of the easier ones done.
"She's right where she needs to be," said Memmel's father and coach, Andy.
So is Johnson, even with the mistakes.
"It's a long road to London," Chow said. "This was a good start."