| Kiya Johnson | |
| Regionsrepresented: | 3 |
| Birth Date: | 27 February 2002 |
| Birth Place: | Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Hometown: | Coppell, Texas, U.S, |
| Residence: | Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Height: | 5 ft 2 in |
| Discipline: | WAG |
| Level: | NCAA |
| Club: | Texas Dreams Gymnastics |
| Collegeteam: | LSU Tigers (2020–24) |
| Headcoach: | Jay Clark |
| Assistcoach: | Ashleigh Gnat |
| Formercoach: | Kim Zmeskal-Burdette |
| Choreographer: | Courtney McCool Griffeth |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Kiya Johnson (born February 27, 2002)[1] is an American artistic gymnast. She currently competes for the LSU Tigers gymnastics team.[2]
Johnson was born on February 27, 2002, in Dallas, Texas, to Carl and Kyesha Johnson. She grew up in Coppell, Texas, where she attended Coppell High School, graduating a year early in 2019.[3]
Johnson trained at Texas Dreams Gymnastics under coaches Kim Zmeskal Burdette and Chris Burdette. She was the junior Nastia Liukin Cup all-around, vault, and beam champion in 2015;[4] she earned 2nd place on the vault and 5th place in the all-around at the Junior Olympic National Championships that same year.[5]
In 2016, Johnson briefly trained as a junior elite gymnast; she earned a berth to the Secret U.S. Classic, placing 17th in the all-around and tying for 7th place on floor exercise.[6]
Johnson returned to level 10 competition for the 2018 season. She placed 5th in the all-around at the Nastia Liukin Cup.[7] She tied for first place in the all-around and won the floor exercise title at the J.O. National Championships.
In 2019, Johnson earned the bronze medal in the all-around at the Nastia Liukin Cup, and successfully defended her J.O. National Championship all-around and floor exercise titles, adding another title on the balance beam.[8]
Johnson began competing for the LSU Tigers gymnastics team in the 2020 season. She competed all-around in 9 of 11 meets. On January 24, she earned her first career perfect 10 on the balance beam at Florida, and on February 14 added a perfect 10 on the vault at the GymQuarters invitational. She also posted season-high scores of 9.95 on the uneven bars, 9.975 on the floor exercise, and 39.75 in the all-around.[9] She was named SEC Freshman of the Week for four consecutive weeks beginning in January,[10] and also earned the SEC Gymnast of the Week honor following an all-around win against Auburn on January 17.
At the conclusion of the (prematurely terminated) season, Johnson was named the SEC Freshman of the Year. She also earned first team All-America honors on vault, floor exercise, and the all-around.[11]
On January 8, Johnson earned her third career perfect 10 on floor exercise in a meet against Arkansas. On March 5, she scored another perfect 10 on the event against Missouri. At the SEC Championships, Jonnson scored her third perfect 10 of the season on floor exercise, winning the SEC title on the event. She also placed second in the all-around behind Luisa Blanco of Alabama.[12] During the NCAA Championship semifinals, Johnson competed in the all-around, however LSU failed to advance to the final.[13] At the conclusion of the season, Johnson was named SEC Specialist of the Year.
On February 5, Johnson scored her sixth career perfect 10 on floor exercise against Auburn. On February 18, she scored another perfect 10 on the balance beam against Alabama. At the NCAA regional semifinals, she contributed scores on all four events, however LSU suffered two uncharacteristic falls on balance beam and as a result was eliminated from the postseason during the first round of regionals, failing to qualify for the national championship as a team.[14] Johnson qualified for the NCAA Championships as an individual competitor on vault. She finished sixth on the event with a score of 9.9125.
During the second meet of the 2023 season, Johnson suffered an Achilles tendon rupture on floor exercise, which ruled her out for the remainder of the season.[15] [16]
Johnson returned for the 2024 season for her fifth year of eligibility. On January 19, she scored a perfect 10 on floor exercise in a meet against Kentucky, one year after she tore her Achilles competing on the same event against the same team. At the SEC Championships, Johnson competed in the all-around, helping LSU win the SEC conference title. She also tied for the SEC floor exercise title with Kentucky's Raena Worley and teammate KJ Johnson, all posting 9.975s.[17] During the NCAA Championships, Johnson once again competed in the all-around, helping LSU win their first national championship title in program history.[18] [19]
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | align=left | SEC Championships | 15 | 8 | 7 | |||
| align=left | 8 | 4 | 32 | 17 | 20 | |||
| 2022 | align=left | SEC Championships | 5 | 13 | 8 | 47 | 9 | 8 |
| 6 | ||||||||
| 2024 | align=left | SEC Championships | 8 | 36 | 39 | |||
| align=left | 7 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 10 |
| Season | Date | Event | Meet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | January 24, 2020 | Balance beam | LSU vs Florida | |
| February 14, 2020 | Vault | GymQuarters Invite | ||
| 2021 | January 8, 2021 | Floor exercise | LSU vs Arkansas | |
| March 5, 2021 | LSU vs Missouri | |||
| March 20, 2021 | SEC Championships | |||
| 2022 | February 5, 2022 | LSU vs Auburn | ||
| February 18, 2022 | Balance beam | LSU vs Alabama | ||
| 2024 | January 19, 2024 | Floor exercise | LSU vs Kentucky |