Johnson secures U.S. title

BOSTON – Shawn Johnson was still in the corner, chalking up and waiting for the go-ahead when her floor exercise music began.

It was the closest thing to trouble she had all day.

The reigning world champion shrugged off the glitch with her music, winning her second straight title in the U.S. gymnastics championships Saturday and taking the first round in a rivalry with teammate Nastia Liukin that is sure to captivate all the way through the Beijing Olympics.

“It definitely feels great to be in the position I am going into the trials and Beijing,” said Johnson.

Johnson’s score of 127.5 was the highest at nationals since the open-ended scoring system began in 2006, and was a point better than Liukin.

The difference came on floor: Liukin fell in Thursday’s preliminaries, scoring more than 1.5 points lower than she did Saturday.

Johnson, Liukin and 17 others move onto the Olympic trials, June 19-22 in Philadelphia. The top two there earn spots in Beijing. The remaining four members of the team and up to three alternates will be named after a July 20 training camp.