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Most teenagers only dream of getting a car on their 16th birthday. In Shawn Johnson’s case, her wish came in the form of a new red Land Rover topped with a bow.

The lease arrangement for the car was a gift from Betts Auto Campus, presented to her on her birthday, Jan. 19, while she was signing autographs at Chow’s Rising Stars Invitational in Clive.

Receiving gifts and being at the center of attention have become the norm for this elite international gymnast since she decided to turn professional last summer, and then won three gold medals (team, all-around individual and floor exercises) at the World Artistic Gymnastic Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, in September. Now she is favored to win gold in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

Yet this kind of attention hasn’t changed the attitude of the West Des Moines teenager, who is focusing on her training, continuing to get straight A’s as a sophomore at Valley High School and spending time with family and friends.

Going pro “was honestly the best decision of my life,” Johnson said. “I love showing everybody what it is that we do. I love being able to show people how hard we work and how hard work pays off. I don’t know if my life has really changed much – it’s a little crazier – but I love it and I love all the attention.”

Still, it is Johnson’s hard work, competitive nature, traditional Iowa values and upbringing, and composure in the media spotlight that have boosted her into stardom faster than any other gymnast, said her New York agent, Sheryl Shade, who represented Shannon Miller and the other “Magnificent Seven” gymnasts at the height of their fame in the 1996 Olympics.

The money is the least important thing to me. My thing is the whole promotion and getting the face of the sport out there. – Shawn Johnson Elite gymnast

“I’ve never seen a gymnast get this much interest prior to the games,” Shade said. “It’s a little bit unbelievable, to tell you the truth. … She’s worked hard for this, and now it’s like all magic.”

Not only is Johnson in the media spotlight, but Shade is receiving phone calls daily from companies vying for a chance to have Johnson endorse their products. “Everyone wants her,” Shade said.

Door swings open

Johnson is one of six U.S. athletes chosen to represent The Coca-Cola Co., the oldest sponsor of the Olympic Games, in its international advertising campaign this summer. This is the first time the company has had an athlete spokesperson in several years, Shade said. “It’s going to be just mind-boggling.”

Adidas supplies all of her competition leotards and warm-ups along with the entire USA Gymnastics National Team. Locally, Johnson will appear in an upcoming Hy-Vee Inc. advertising campaign, Brodkey’s Jewelers gave her a necklace with emeralds, rubies, sapphires, onyx and diamonds in the shape of the Olympic rings, and Gov. Chet Culver proclaimed last Oct. 17 as Shawn Johnson Day. She has appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show, was named “Person of the Week” by “ABC World News with Charles Gibson” and received the 17th Longines Prize for Elegance, which included a trophy, a wristwatch from the Longines evidenza collection and a check for $5,000.

“Let’s just say I probably have eight other opportunities sitting right in front of me,” Shade said.

Still, Shade claims that Johnson won’t get rich off of her professional status. Because she gave up the chance to get a college scholarship for gymnastics by turning pro, her intention is to make enough money to study medicine at an Ivy League school, which “she will absolutely be able to pay for,” Shade said. Anything extra will go into a savings account; her parents have not asked for any of her earnings.

“The money is the least important thing to me,” Johnson said. “My thing is the whole promotion and getting the face of the sport out there.”

Going pro could also help open up other opportunities for Johnson, such as professional speaking, later in her life. Shannon Miller found a successful career in speaking and broadcasting after competing in the Olympics 12 years ago, Shade said.

“I felt there would be so many more opportunities for her future going this way,” said Teri Johnson, Shawn’s mother, “and she will probably have a much wider range of college options also. I like the idea of her choosing a college for the school rather than their gymnastics program.”

It is common for the top one or two gymnasts in the nation to go professional, Shade said. Most gymnasts peak between ages 14 and 16, well before they are ready for college. The decision often depends on luck – whether a gymnast turns 16 right before the Olympic Games to meet the minimum age requirement to compete. Johnson’s birthday happened to fall at the right time, and she decided it was better to take the opportunity of going pro now, rather than trying to compete in college later.

“She’s so far away from college now,” Teri said, “and she is at the height of her career. … If she ever competed in college, it would be such a downgrade from what she’s doing now that I don’t know that that would be respectful of her as a competitor.”

“She has this whole package,” Shade said, “and it happens to come at the right year. She has the personality. She has the ability. She had a whirlwind year, where she was beating the best in the world.”

In the spotlight

Johnson made the decision to go pro and signed with Shade before she went to the Pan American Games. Becoming the 2007 Pan American all-around champion, followed by the 2007 world all-around champion shortly after, skyrocketed her into the spotlight.

“That’s who everyone looks at – the girl to watch,” Shade said.

With this excitement have come a lot of requests from media and potential sponsors, wanting a glimpse into the young girl’s life.

“We’re trying to please a lot of people right now,” Shade said, “but we’re also putting some barriers to access. She needs time to do schoolwork and maintain a 4.0, she needs training,” which includes practice from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. weekdays and for six hours on Saturdays.

The attention “definitely has taken up a little more time than it has before,” Johnson said, “but I definitely take time for going out to movies with friends and spending time with my family. I still haven’t lost it.”

Shade has even turned down some opportunities because they required Johnson to make a lot of appearances. Teri Johnson also said her daughter only wants opportunities that are “Midwest value-oriented.”

The excitement surrounding Johnson also has increased the pressure on her to perform well. Her first big meet this year will be the American Cup on March 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

“It’s a little scary,” Teri Johnson said. “The expectations for her are pretty big, and I don’t want it to get to a point to where she’s not allowed to be human. Her coach has said before that she’s not a machine. She’ll make mistakes, and she might make them at the wrong time. I want her in her heart to be able to handle that, live with that and not feel like she’s letting people down.”

“As for pressure,” Shawn Johnson said, “I wouldn’t say that. I believe everything happens for a reason and everything’s meant to be.”

The cost of being great

Supporting a budding gymnast wasn’t too expensive until Johnson entered the ranks of the elite, her mother said. Though the USA Gymnastics National Team picks up her expenses, minus coaching fees, the Johnsons paid between $7,000 and $9,000 per trip to see their daughter compete in Brazil and Germany last year. Plus, as a self-employed carpenter, Shawn’s father, Doug, figures he lost about one-fourth of his annual income last year.

But, Teri Johnson said, “We don’t have to go. We just choose to.”

Her parents’ trip to the Beijing Olympics to see their daughter (their only child) compete will cost around $25,000, which doesn’t include the Olympic trials in Philadelphia. Graham Cook, head of Homesteaders Life Co., started a campaign to raise money for the family’s travel expenses after Johnson’s aunt, who works at Homesteaders, explained the situation to him.

Cook was amazed by the amount of interest, with donations coming from nine other companies and individuals totaling more than $35,000. But he was more surprised to see the extent of the interest in the young gymnast at a Dec. 21 ceremony where Homesteaders presented the check to Johnson’s family.

A woman from GuideOne Insurance, one of the sponsors, told Cook that the company “had so many people interested in coming that they had to have a lottery. She said, ‘This is the biggest Christmas present I ever could have gotten my girls.'”

If she makes it through the Olympic Games, Johnson will embark on a post-Olympic exhibition tour in 30 U.S. cities. Shade also is talking with one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the nation about Johnson becoming a spokesperson for children with cancer.

Only then may Johnson also answer the question: Will her picture ever appear on a Wheaties box?

Johnson must get a gold medal at the Olympic Games to be considered, Shade said. But that’s not her focus.

“When I ask (her coach, Liang) Qiao, or Shawn about post-Olympics (activities), they just look at me and say, ‘We’re focused on the Olympics.’ … At this moment, there’s a big circle around 8/8/08.”