Shawn Johnson

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- Shawn Johnson got a red Range Rover from her agent, which comes in handy when a blizzard sweeps through her hometown as it did on a January day when Johnson and her parents, Doug and Teri, and her coach, Liang Chow, welcomed visitors to the home of America's next gymnastics star. The color Johnson is working for now isn't red, though. It's gold. Johnson, 16, will begin her 2008 competitive season today at the Tyson's American Cup at Madison Square Garden.

BOSTON -- The chase is on. Shawn Johnson held on to her U.S. national championships all-around title Saturday by pounding out eight solid routines over two nights, but Nastia Liukin closed fast and with flash. And the two Americans did nothing to discourage the sense that they are co-favorites to win the Olympic all-around gold medal in August. Johnson, 16, of West Des Moines, Iowa, earned her win with resolute performances on every apparatus and cemented it with her athletic floor routine.

PHILADELPHIA -- Outside Chow's Gymnastics, a large aluminum building sitting in an industrial park in West Des Moines, Iowa, the Raccoon River was rising as rapidly as Shawn Johnson, America's best gymnast, when she does her high-flying double twisting vault. As friends and neighbors, hundreds of them, piled up sandbags outside, Johnson and one of her coaches, Liwen Zhuang, corralled their thoughts to focus on one small thing: flips and turns on the four-inch balance beam.

PHILADELPHIA -- Shawn Johnson rumbles across the floor exercise mat like a sparkling bowling ball gaining speed and power until she reaches the corner and throws herself into a sonic boom of flips, twists and a forceful landing. She offers a smile and swings her shiny ponytail. Across the way, Nastia Liukin uncoils her legs and lifts herself onto the uneven bars.

PHILADELPHIA -- Shawn Johnson pounded out a dramatically confident floor exercise routine. It is the hardest-ranked floor set in the world, and when Johnson landed her final tumbling pass with a secure thud, U.S. national team coordinator Martha Karolyi applauded. "The way Shawn finished, that was wonderful," Karolyi said. "When you see a girl do something so hard so well, that is uplifting." Johnson, 16, of West Des Moines, Iowa, won the U.S.

BEIJING -- Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin have moved on to the next big thing already. They are the smiling co-favorites for the Olympic gymnastics all-around gold medal, a competition that happens Friday at the National Indoor Stadium. Johnson and Liukin politely insisted that winning a team silver medal Wednesday was fine, even if the U.S. had come into competition as favorites after defeating China at the 2007 world championships.

SAN JOSE -- Shawn Johnson is a gymnast of popping power but with enough grace to make a stutter step on the floor exercise seem balletic. Johnson, only 15 and in her first year as a senior competitor at U.S. gymnastics nationals, was the emphatic leader after Thursday's first night of women's competition at the Visa Championships at HP Pavilion.

STUTTGART, Germany -- They make an unlikely combination, gymnastics coach Liang Chow and 15-year-old gymnast Shawn Johnson. Chow grew up near Beijing and was formed into a world class gymnast by a rigid system that left a young boy with no way to express his personality except in his tumbling, his twisting and turning, his somersaults and back flips. With his eyes closed and when he was flying through the air, Chow was free. When he landed, Chow belonged to the national coaches.

STUTTGART, Germany -- Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson will be teammates for United States women's gymnastics Wednesday, hoping to lead it to a team gold medal. They will be rivals the rest of the week, aiming to win the all-around title and individual event medals and set themselves up as favorites to be the best gymnast at next summer's Olympics in Beijing. After a dominating performance in qualifying Sunday, the U.S.

Shawn Johnson can't stop smiling. She looks into the eyes of her dancing partner, Mark Ballas, the two nod at each other and then the music starts. We can't tell you the music. It's a secret until Johnson and Ballas compete at 8 tonight on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars."