Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson shares why she cut off best friend and former teammate Nastia Liukin for 8 years

Gymnast Shawn Johnson has elaborate why she refused to speak pinch her champion friend and erstwhile Olympics teammate Nastia Liukin for 8 years.

Johnson, 32, who won nan golden badge for equilibrium beam astatine nan 2008 Beijing Olympics, said astir her relationship hiatus pinch Liukin, 35, during a caller question and reply pinch Access Hollywood.

“Nastia and I were champion friends, training, and astatine nan [2008] Olympics we were roommates,” Johnson recalled. “We were 16 and 18 years old, we were kids.”

Though nan brace had worked retired a measurement to beryllium some competitors and friends, nan public’s desire for nan them to beryllium bitter rivals drove a wedge betwixt nan phenoms.

“I felt for illustration we were nether nan spotlight and scrutiny truthful overmuch to beryllium each other’s top, biggest competitors,” Johnson explained.

“And we had figured retired connected nan title level really to beryllium champion friends and competitors. But erstwhile nan world started benignant of interjecting really we should grip it, they said we should besides beryllium each other’s worst enemies arsenic well.”

After nan Beijing games, Johnson and Liukin didn’t speak for 8 years. Only aft their important others intervened did nan gymnasts get backmost successful touch and revive their friendship.

“Our boyfriends astatine nan clip sewage truthful tired of proceeding america talk astir each different that they said, ‘Enough of this, conscionable spell talk to each different again,’ and we did,” Johnson revealed. “And ever since then, it’s conscionable for illustration we haven’t skipped a beat.”

“It was amazing,” Johnson said of her and Liukin’s reunion, but added, “It besides was really confusing for some of america because we were really nervous.”

“We didn’t cognize really to rekindle that [friendship],” nan golden medalist confessed, though their nervousness was short-lived. “It was genuinely within, like, 2 minutes we were backmost to being champion friends.”

“We some said nan aforesaid thing, ‘I don’t cognize what happened but I miss you and I miss us,'” Johnson said of nan reconciliation. “And it’s been that measurement ever since.”

In summation to her golden badge for nan equilibrium beam event, Johnson, who joined erstwhile NFL subordinate Andrew East successful April 2016, took location 3 metallic medals astatine nan 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, for level exercise, individual all-around and squad all-around.

Liukin won nan coveted golden badge for individual all-around successful women’s gymnastics that year, besides nabbing metallic medals for nan uneven bars, equilibrium beam, and squad all-around positive a bronze badge for nan level event.

Johnson retired from gymnastics successful 2012, aft a agelong conflict to flooded a knee wounded that yet prevented her from going to nan 2012 Summer Olympics successful London. Liukin retired from nan athletics that aforesaid twelvemonth aft she grounded to make nan United States’ 2012 Olympic team.