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Katherine "Kathy" Johnson Clarke (born Katherine Ann Johnson; September 13, 1959) is an American
sports commentator In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...
and former
artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...
. Johnson was one of the first American gymnasts to win a major international medal, known for her longevity and tenacity in the sport.


Early life

On September 13, 1959, Johnson was born in
Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson County, Tennessee, Anderson and Roane County, Tennessee, Roane counties in the East Tennessee, eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. Oak Ridge's po ...
.


Career

At a young age, she lived in
Indialantic, Florida Indialantic, officially incorporated as Indialantic-By-The-Sea, is a town in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town's population was ...
. She began gymnastics at the age of twelve; a relatively late start for an elite gymnast. Within four years, however, she had progressed to competition at the elite level, placing 42nd at the 1975 AAU National Championships. In 1976, she finished in 23rd place at the US National Championships and twelfth at the Olympic Trials. Gerard Eskenazibr>"Johnson Makes her Choice"
''New York Times,'' March 13, 1978.

gymn-forum.net; accessed December 31, 2017.
In 1977, however, Johnson began to achieve great success in the sport. She won the 1977 American Cup, took a silver medal in the all-around at the NHK Cup in Japan, and won the floor exercise gold and the all-around silver at the 1977 US Nationals. She continued to improve in 1978, becoming the US National all-around champion and winning the silver medal at the American Cup. At the
1978 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 19th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Strasbourg, France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French ...
in
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
, Johnson placed eighth in the all-around—an excellent finish for an American gymnast at the time—and won a bronze medal on the
floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, considered an apparatus. The floor exercise (English abbreviation FX) is the event performed on the floor, in both women's and men's artistic gymnastics (WAG and MAG). The same flo ...
, tying with Romania's
Emilia Eberle Gertrúd Emilia Eberle ( Trudi Kollar; born 4 March 1964) is a retired Romanian gymnast of German-Hungarian descent.Supersisters ''Supersisters'' was a set of 72 trading cards produced and distributed in the United States in 1979 by Supersisters, Inc. They featured famous women from politics, media and entertainment, culture, sports, and other areas of achievement. The ...
trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Johnson's name and picture. After her win, Johnson remained a vital member of the US team, helping the squad achieve a sixth-place finish at the 1979 Worlds. However, problems with her verbally abusive coach, who pressured her to lose weight and train even when she was seriously injured, took their toll, both physically and emotionally. Struggling to complete her University studies and stay competitive in a sport that was increasingly embracing younger, lighter girls, she developed
bulimia Bulimia nervosa, also known simply as bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating (eating large quantities of food in a short period of time, often feeling out of control) followed by compensatory behaviors, such as self-induc ...
."When the 'perfect' body isn't good enough"
, ''The Washington Psychiatric Society'', July 2003.
Johnson was further disheartened when the United States decided to join the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. She had placed second at the Olympic Trials, had been named the team captain of the American squad "Kathy Johnson Clarke"
Culture, Education, Sport and Ethics, 2008
and had been considered a legitimate contender for success at the Games. After relocating to Southern California to train at SCATS with Don Peters, Johnson's fortunes and spirit improved. By 1983 she was representing the US at the World Championships again; placing eleventh in the all-around and qualifying to the floor exercise event final. In 1984, at the age of twenty-four, Johnson earned a spot on the US team for the
1984 Olympics The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an i ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. She was elected the team captain. ''International Gymnast'', July 18, 2004. In addition to winning a silver medal with the squad, she won an individual bronze on the
balance beam The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. The apparatus and the event are sometimes simply called "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is BB. The bal ...
. In doing so, she became the second American female gymnast to medal in both a Worlds and an Olympics. Her teammate, Julianne Mcnamara, became the first American gymnast to hold that distinction, having won a bronze medal on the uneven bars at the 1981 World Championships and winning the gold medal (tied with Ma Yanhong of China) on the uneven bars one day before Johnson won her medal on beam. After Johnson retired from gymnastics, her career focus turned to television; less than a year after her Olympic win she appeared as a guest star on the children's show ''
Kids Incorporated ''Kids Incorporated'' (also known as ''Kids Inc.'') is an American children's television program that began production in the mid-1980s and continued airing into the mid-1990s. It was largely a youth-oriented program with musical performances as ...
.'' Johnson was a sports commentator for ABC-TV Sports and
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
, covering multiple gymnastics events. In 2015, Johnson joined SEC Network in 2015 as a gymnastic analyst. In film, Johnson also served as the technical advisor for
Lifetime Television Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...
's film '' Little Girls in Pretty Boxes.'' Johnson has been involved in several initiatives to improve conditions for gymnasts and other world-class athletes, and has spoken publicly and lectured about her struggle with bulimia and her experiences in gymnastics. Johnson is a member of the Advisory Committee for Justice for Athletes, an organization supporting the emotional health of young people in sports, and is an Olympic Athlete Ambassador for the Foundation for Global Sports Development's Culture, Education, Sports and Ethics Program. She is also on the National Athletic Advisory Board for Athletes for a Better World.


Filmography

* 1997 '' Little Girls in Pretty Boxes'' - as Technical advisor.


Personal life

Johnson's husband is
Brian Patrick Clarke Brian Patrick Clarke (born August 1, 1952) is an American actor. He has appeared in many television series and features. Early life Clarke was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Clarke, a punter, was a three-time varsity football letterwin ...
, an actor. They have one son, Sean (born March 1998). Johnson also has a stepson, Cary (born August 1980), from Brian's previous marriage. Johnson is a
vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...
and used to suffer from
bulimia Bulimia nervosa, also known simply as bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating (eating large quantities of food in a short period of time, often feeling out of control) followed by compensatory behaviors, such as self-induc ...
.


Eponymous skill

Johnson has one eponymous skill listed in the Code of Points.


References


External links

*
List of competitive results
gymn-forum.net; accessed December 31, 2017.
Kathy Johnson Clarke at collegegymnews.com
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Kathy 1959 births Living people American female artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in gymnastics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in gymnastics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics U.S. women's national team gymnasts People from Indialantic, Florida Sportspeople from Brevard County, Florida Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics 20th-century American sportswomen