Brandy Johnson

Career

She owns Brandy Johnson"s Global Gymnastics in Clermont, Florida. During the buildup to the 1988 Olympics, Johnson moved to Houston, Texas, to be coached by Marta and Béla Károlyi. She placed sixth at the 1988 United States Nationals and fourth at the Olympic Trials, securing a berth on the United States team for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

At the Olympics, Johnson"s tenth-place all-around finish was the highest for an American gymnast in the meet.

She, Kelly Garrison-Steves, and Phoebe Mills were the only United States. women to qualify for an individual event final. Johnson opted to continue competing in 1989, returning to Brown"son

lieutenant was a successful year for her, as she nearly swept the United States National Championships, winning the all-around title and every event final, with the sole exception of uneven bars. Her silver medal was the only one for an American gymnast in the competition.

Johnson competed well in 1990, placing third in the all-around and winning vault and floor gold at the United States Nationals and winning the Olympic Festival Associate of Arts. She placed 5th Associate of Arts in the 1990 World cup and was an event finalist on bars, beam, and floor.

However, it also marked her last year of elite competition. After retiring from elite gymnastics in 1990, Johnson worked for several years as a stunt double in Hollywood movies, including the film adaptation of the British comedy Bean. Johnson also remains involved in the sport as a judge.

In 2000, she was inducted into the United States of America Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Achievements

• The following year, in her first United States National Championships, Johnson won the all-around gold medal in the junior division. She also received her first international assignment, the Chunichi Cup in Japan, where she achieved a twelfth-place finish. She qualified for an event final on the vault, for which she placed fifth (however, had the competition been held under the New Life rule as in 1989, she would have won the silver medal). She also achieved outstanding results as a member of the fourth-place United States team at the 1989 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, coming in second on the vault and seventh in the all-around. Her Associate of Arts placement was, at the time, the highest ever achieved by an American woman at Worlds. Foreign her contributions to gymnastics in 1989, Johnson was nominated for the James E. Sullivan Award.

Membership

A member of Brown"s Gymnastics club in Orlando, Florida, Johnson made an impressive debut in high-level competition, winning the all-around, vault, floor exercise and balance beam titles at the 1986 Junior Olympics National Championships.