Shawn Johnson East is going to compete in the Summer Olympics once again, but this time she will be accompanied by a different group of athletes.
After a phenomenal career that began when she was 16 years old and included winning four medals, including one gold, at the Olympic Games in 2008, Johnson East retired from the sport in 2012 and went on to marry Andrew East four years later. Both Drew Hazel, who is four years old, Jett James, who is two years old, and Barrett ‘Bear’ Madison, who is seven months old, are the couple’s children.
Johnson East, who is 32 years old, spoke with PEOPLE about her “full circle moment” of returning to the Olympics this year with her “tight-knit” family team. This conversation took place before Johnson East left for Paris to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games.
According to the mother of three, “It is really exciting,” she tells People. In this strange, cool, cliché, full circle moment, I get to go back to the Olympic Games with my husband and my kids and watch gymnastics. It’s a moment that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. It is really fun and thrilling all at the same time.
According to Johnson East, her children “have no clue” how exciting this chance is, despite the fact that she is eagerly anticipating her trip to Paris.
These people have no idea. Despite the fact that they are quite enthusiastic about Disneyland in Paris, she acknowledges that they could not care less about the Olympics.
Johnson East smiles before responding, “I don’t know if they care.” This is in response to the question of which sports she believes her children will like the best.
The woman explains, “My son loves bicycles, so we are going to try to go to the BMX,” referring to her son Jett, who is two years old. Then again, I’m not sure. My guess is that they will like anything. I have a feeling that they like the thrill and the buzz that comes with being anyplace.
In spite of the fact that her children are “excellent travelers,” Johnson East has revealed that she would “absolutely” bring some more friends and family members to the games in order to assist her in taking care of the toddlers. Additionally, the Johnson East team intends to “go everywhere together.”
“We’re bringing both my mom, my mother-in-law, and a nanny,” she adds in detail. When I thought about the possibility of having three children in Paris during the Olympics, when there would be a large number of people, I became really anxious. Due to the fact that my husband and I would be required to go out and work for a short period of time, I did not want to leave three infants with a single individual. Therefore, we are going to make it a family event.”
“We are a well-knit group of people. We are a family that cannot be separated. As a result of the fact that even our nanny is a member of our family, we will be traveling everywhere together,” she explains.
“It’s been magical to have three” children, the retired athlete says after having Bear in December, but she also acknowledges that she is “still trying to figure it out.” Bear is the third of the three children that she has.
“Three has turned me off,” she said. Over the course of my life, I moved from being someone who believed they could control everything to believing that they can control absolutely nothing for the rest of their lives. “Three has been a lot,” she says in an interview with PEOPLE, adding, “It’s been a definite shift in priorities and work, as well as how we arrange our day and our lifestyle.”
In spite of the fact that her children may not be concerned, Johnson East admits that she is “very, very excited to watch each and every one” of the gymnasts competing in the 2024 Olympic Games. She describes the competitors as “such forces.”
In addition, she mentions that being a mother has altered her perspective on gymnastics, stating, “Being a mother of three, I’m more motherly around it since I’ve become a mother.”
I am wondering, ‘Are they all right?’ The only thing I can do is hope that they will be safe. Would they want a cheeseburger, please? What options do I have? She goes on to explain that it is more similar to that cognitive process.
Despite the fact that she does not particularly miss competing, Johnson East says that she does feel nostalgic about the experience.
“I’m such a washed-up old woman, comparatively speaking,” she says with a laugh.