Kerri Strug
Many may not immediately remember her name, but you probably remember images from the 1996 Olympics gymnastics event. Kerri Strung, part of America’s Magnificent Seven, had a lot of pressure on her going into the final rotation. Her team only held a 0.897 lead over the Russians. Unfortunately, the first four of her team members had not so clean vault landings. Then, another teammate, Dominique Moceanu fell not once, but twice. Everything came down to Strug, the last one to perform on the vault for her team.
Kerri Strug
Making History
Tragically, Strug fell and hurt her ankle on her first landing. Thus, judges awarded her 9.162. She turned to her coach, Béla Károlyi and asked if they needed her to vault again. He told her, “Kerri, we need you to go one more time. We need you one more time for the gold. You can do it, you better do it.” Amazingly, she landed her second attempt perfectly despite her injury! Though she did immediately collapse and need her coach to carry her to the podium to receive the gold.
Making History
