By Sonia OxleyPosted 2008/08/07 at 9:07 am EDT
BEIJING, Aug. 7, 2008 (Reuters) — American world all-round champion Shawn Johnson owes her place at the Olympics to her Chinese coach and she is delighted to be able to bring him back to his home city.
Chow Liang has not been to Beijing for almost 14 years, when 16-year-old Johnson was still in nappies.
"It makes me feel proud to know that I worked hard enough to get him back to his home town," Johnson, who won three golds at last year's world championships, told reporters on Thursday.
"He has always talked about it, never too much because he always wanted it to be a surprise for me if I made it."
Johnson has been learning from the Chinese coach and his wife since she was six at their gym in Iowa and said she was very close to both of them.
"They're like my second parents," she said.
"Chow is great, he is the best coach I could ever had. He fits me perfect, we work together so well. He's gotten me to fulfill my biggest dreams. He makes gymnastics so fun."
Chow, head coach for the U.S. women's team, said he was delighted to be back in the Chinese capital, where the Games open on Friday.
"It's a great feeling. You see when you come back the big improvement, it is certainly a beautiful city," he told a news conference.
FALLING OFF
Johnson is one of favorites for the all-round crown and the floor title but said the balance beam was where she really hoped to shine after falling off the 10cm wide apparatus twice during the 2007 world championships final.
"One of my biggest goals is to go out on beam and really show what I'm made of," she said. "I've been working really hard on that event, working for consistency."
She dismissed suggestions that China's home advantage could destroy American dreams of a first Olympic women's team title since 1996.
"Personally a competition is a competition to me," she said.
"I don't really think there is too much advantage because you're still in an arena and you're still competing for your country whether your country is in the stands or not."
The women's gymnastics starts on Sunday.
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
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