Shawn Johnson grew up as an only child in a loving household, but her parents worried about her extreme competitiveness. They tried to rein it in by keeping her in lower-level activities and bribing her to skip practice for shopping trips, attempting to give her a normal childhood alongside her relentless drive.
What was the household like when you were a kid?
Loving.
Amazing. How many siblings?
I'm an only child.
How does an only child get so competitive?
I am about as competitive as—
What did your parents do to you when you were a kid that made you super competitive?
I came out that way, which is really scary.
Truly. Kids that are super competitive come from some sort of situation that doesn't sound as healthy as yours.
Mine was as healthy as it comes.
Go, Mom and Dad.
Yeah, they desperately tried to hold me back. They kept me at lower levels. They would bribe me to stay home and go shopping.
Did they feel like you were missing out on being a kid?
They just wanted me to be normal.
