bdmetronews Desk ॥ Now the truth can be told. Eight years after being hailed for exemplary leadership in the face of disappointment, gymnast Shawn Johnson says the picture of her comforting teammate Alicia Sacramone at the Beijing Olympics isn’t quite what everyone thought it was.
“It’s incredibly embarrassing, but we were talking about Harry Potter,” said Johnson, who is currently working as a Yahoo Sports Olympics analyst. “It was always funny because people always wanted to ask me about this moment. About how I ‘brought the team together’ and how I ‘picked her back up.’ I never wanted to comment because it was so embarrassing.”
Team captain Sacramone had just made two crucial mistakes in the team competition — falling off the beam and during a pass in the floor exercise — that ended any chance the United States had at winning its first gold in team competition since 1996. Amid the disappointment, Johnson stepped in to give what looked like a few steadying words of encouragement. The team would end up winning a silver medal while Sacramone and Johnson took home a huge haul of medals during the individual competition.
The media at the time interpreted the meeting between Johnson and Sacramone to fit an Olympic narrative of perseverance and goodwill.
