Kiya Johnson: LSU's national championship victory 'means everything and more'

The LSU Tigers have reached the top of the college gymnastics world, winning the program’s first-ever national championship. For star gymnast Kiya Johnson, the win means the world to her.

Following the victory, Johnson shared the emotions of winning the national championship. She also added that this has always been her goal at LSU.

“For me, it means everything and more,” Kiya Johnson said. “We came to this program — I came — five years ago and I’ve wanted this from the day that I stepped foot on campus. So for it to happen today and for all the fans to be here, a lot of the alumni to be here, I think it was just the perfect way for this to happen for the first time.”

Kiya Johnson went on to declare that the win wasn’t just for this individual team but for all of the LSU gymnastics community.

“And I truly think that this wasn’t just a win for this team, but a win for everybody that’s ever been involved with LSU gymnastics,” Johnson said.

Kiya Johnson certainly did her part to help LSU win the national championship. Johnson, along with  Haleigh Bryant, was one of the only two Tigers to compete in all four rotations, with Johnson’s lowest score being 9.8875 on the bars. For her all-around score, Johnson finished with a 39.6750.

That came after Johnson was a key member of the LSU team all season, competing in the All-Around at the SEC Championships to help the Tigers take home a conference title. She also ended up tying for first at the SEC Championships for the floor exercise, scoring a 9.975.

Kiya Johnson describes emotions of battling back from injury to win national championship

Throughout her career, Kiya Johnson has battled through injuries, including tearing both of her Achilles tendons. The first one she injured in high school. The second one came in January of 2023. However, she’s battled through those injuries to win this championship.

“It’s kind of hard to put into words right now because it all just happened, but truly throughout that process my teammates were there for me literally every single day,” Johnson explained.

“So that kept me going. Then also envisioning this happening today. That was also a goal and a dream that I kept in the back of my mind. So for it to come to a head here is crazy. I can’t put it into words.”