With talent, drive, and strength, Gea Johnson pushes her way towards the Gold in the 2002 Winter Olympics
By Michaleen McGarry
It could be said that Gea Johnson was born to be an athlete. Receiving accolades throughout her athletic career, this humble athlete has seen her share of success as a world-class heptathlete, as an Olympic weightlifter, as America’s first Ms. National Fitness champion, and most recently as a member of the 2002 U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team.
Johnson’s road to success has not been a smooth one. With multiple injuries throughout the years, Gea Johnson’s dreams have repeatedly been tested. Despite numerous injuries and surgeries that have endangered Johnson's ability to ever compete again, she has never given up. Amid an extremely triumphant athletic career, she has sustained what should have been a career-ending knee injury, endured five open knee surgeries, herniated two discs in her neck, had major foot surgery, and suffered severe nerve damage in her leg. Not exactly a walk in the park. And while most would have given up, Johnson found the strength and focus to continue…to endure.
It is put best by the victor herself, "A champion doesn't always win with ease. A true champion has faced adversity, tasted failure, seen disappointment, and yet still rises to the challenge on every front, emerging victorious with a bold determination to share the process with others."
Johnson’s abilities go beyond the norm – even for star athletes – with her uncanny ability to envelop a sport with such ease. Gea's climb to the top echelon of bobsledding is the fastest the sport has ever seen. Johnson took up the sport in August 2001 after rehabbing from nerve damage in her leg and is now the fastest female brakeman in the United States.
In 1997, after just five months of training, Gea Johnson's commanding performances within the weightlifting world earned her several weightlifting titles. The subsequent year, she developed into the top ranked lifter in her weight class. Johnson's accomplishments in the track and field area are just as noteworthy with top rankings in heptathlon and track and field events worldwide, in addition to four uninterrupted years of 2nd place standing in the U.S. Heptathlon – second only to the celebrated Jackie Joyner-Kersee.
With her remarkable athletic triumphs, Gea Johnson can certainly be considered one of the world's greatest female athletes. Yet, just as important as all of these accomplishments, is how she got to where she is today. Gea Johnson gives much credit to her achievements to her loving family, especially her mother.
"My mom taught me when I was little that you can accomplish anything you want to, and I think that is what drives me," states Gea.
Like the true athletic adventurer that she is, when asked what her future holds, Gea is quick to comment on her love of training and competing, her new found love of bobsledding, and her hopes to compete in another heptathlon someday.
Whatever Gea Johnson’s future holds, whether she wins the Gold or not, with her natural talent and determination – she will be successful. After all, you can’t stop the forces of nature.
