DES MOINES &#8212 Legend has it that, as a baby, America’s newest gymnastics star skipped crawling and went straight to walking. On Wednesday, West Des Moines native Shawn Johnson’s flair for early excellence earned her a day that was all her own.

Johnson, 15, who won the gold medal in the all-around competition at last summer’s World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, was honored as Gov. Chet Culver declared “Shawn Johnson Day” in Iowa.

The bubbly 10th-grader, who at 4-feet-8-inches tall was dwarfed by Culver, accepted the award amid cheers from the dozens of girls who packed into the Iowa State Historical Building. The crowd could barely wait for Johnson to reach the podium, giving her a standing ovation as she emerged from an elevator with the governor.

“This is the biggest honor ever. To have your own day? It’s kind of crazy,” Johnson said. “I can’t even believe it.”

In only her first year at the senior gymnastics level, Johnson won every competition she entered, including the U.S. and World Championships. Johnson won the U.S. Championships by 3.45 points over Shayla Worley, a margin considered very large in gymnastics.

“Shawn Johnson is an amazing young woman. She’s an example to all of us,” Culver said. “She’s a great athlete and a great student. Shawn is a terrific teammate, too.”

Johnson, a student at Valley High in West Des Moines, is training for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where she should be favored to win gold. Johnson is practicing four hours a day, six days a week with coach Liang Qiao, a former Chinese national team member.