Shawn Johnson Crowned Winner of Dancing With the Stars 2009

Gymnast Shawn Johnson has been crowned the winner of Dancing With the Stars 2009.

Three contestants remained going in to tonight’s show: Johnson, Melissa Rycroft and Gilles Marini. Each contestant was asked to perform one final dance, with the judges awarding a perfect score of 30 for each performance.

Rycroft was the first to go, after Marini and Johnson tied with the most votes. A fresh round of voting, combined with the judges scores, delivered a 1% advantage to Johnson.

Johnson told the audience “This has been the best experience ever. I’ve grown so much.”

17 year old Johnson is third Olympian to have made the final of Dancing With the Stars, following in the footsteps of Kristi Yamaguchi and Apolo Anton Ohno.