During the Summer Olympics, rooms go silent when this one sport comes on. Everyone holds their breath as they wait to see if the athlete will land the mind-blowing stunts that most people could never dream of doing. Everyone cheers as he or she completes the routine with a show-stopping smile. Then, two weeks later, after the Olympic torch is snuffed out, everyone forgets about the gymnast who has worked their whole life to get to this point. Everyone, except for the gymnast himself. Junior Sheldon Johnson knows what it is like to be the one who puts in a lot of effort into the sport he loves-gymnastics and contortionism.

“My favorite thing about gymnastics is the amount of dedication and effort that has to be put forth to actually be decent at it,” Johnson said. “If you look at many other sports and you’ll notice that though you do have to be pretty dedicated; a lot of people don’t dedicate that much energy and effort.”

Johnson is his own instructor as there are not many gymnastic or contortionism teachers in the area.

“Currently I practice every day on my own at school when I am stretching in class and when I get home I usually do pretty intense cardio exercises,” Johnson said.  “Then I do some gymnastics outside and I come back inside and stretch for contortioning in my room because by then, my muscles are loosened up and warm.”

Johnson competed in gymnastics for several years.

“I use to compete for STARZ gymnastics, but I had to un-enroll because I went to Taiwan this summer for a mission trip and I didn’t want to have to pay for classes that I wouldn’t be attending,” Johnson said. “Hopefully I’ll be competing again soon.”

Johnson said that he has learned many life lessons from these sports

“[Gymnsatics] has taught me how to focus, how to work hard for the things I want and how to be hella flexible,” Johnson said. “It taught me how to be respectful and humble because it showed me how much others have practiced and how there are others who are much better than me but [to] always put others first. Winning is not everything.”

Johnson said that while competing, the outfits are much like what is seen on the Olympics.

“I don’t wear much at all unfortunately. I wear a one piece called a leotard which sort of looks like a women’s one piece bathing suit and then shorts that are probably a little shorter than short shorts,” Johnson said. “We have to have our bodies completely shaven to look clean while wearing these skimpy outfits.”

Johnson said that the sports have benefitted his body as well as his mind.

“They’ve increased my range of motion greatly and increased the elasticity of my ligaments. It has benefited my overall health and physical ability and drive,” Johnson said. “Most of all, it has shown me that even the impossible is possible with a little time, sweat, pain, and motivation.”

Johnson said anyone who is interested in trying gymnastics should be sure to be willing to put in time and effort.

“It’s not going to be easy, but as long as you try you hardest and you enjoy it then there won’t be anything that can stop you from becoming great at it,” Johnson said.

Johnson also participates in contortionism, a sport that is highly dangerous and can even cause death.

“Although it is not the most dangerous, [contortion] is pretty high up on the list. To start off, many of the positions that I/contortionists put ourselves into would literally paralyze or even kill most people. If I were to put myself into a double fold and one of my muscles in my back were to give out or to cramp up, I could literally snap my back in half and become permanently paralyzed or killed.”

Johnson said that every position a contortionist puts themselves into, whether it is an easy one or difficult one; they are putting themselves at risk of hernias, fractures, breaks, concussions, suffocation, and even death.

Johnson says he practices contorting at home because there are few gyms in the world that teach the sport. He also choreographs his own routines.

“My favorite routine that I do is one that I came up with in 9th grade for the talent show,” Johnson said.  “It was to the theme song from the movie Saw called The Final Chapter. The song is perfect because it is not too fast, not too slow, not too long, and not too short. The best part of the song is that it is creepy which matches what I am doing. Just about everything that I do nobody but a handful of people in the world can do. During the routine I usually start off slow and build up into the more complicated moves.”

“Literally everyone was squirming in their chairs, gasping, and in pain while watching me on stage.”