Kerri Strug, Olympic Legend

Kerri Strug is best remembered for her courageous 9.712-scoring vault on a badly injured ankle in the final exercise of the Atlanta Olympics team gymnastics competition. The Magnificent 7, as the women's team was known in those 1996 Games, won the gold, while Kerri wrote her own passage in the history of great Olympic moments with her determined effort.

Her injury prevented Kerri from continuing in the individual event competition, for which she had qualified in the all-around, floor exercise and vault. It was a great disappointment for her, as she had trained a lifetime for an individual Olympic medal. Leading up to the Games, at the McDonald's American Cup, Kerri was first in the all-around, balance beam and floor exercise and second (tied) in the vault and uneven bars. But what she had accomplished with her gutsy performance in Atlanta, helping her team win the gold medal, overshadowed whatever personal frustration she may have felt at the time.

The Atlanta Games was Kerri's second Olympics, she was the youngest U.S. athlete at the Barcelona Games in 1992. Team USA won the bronze in Barcelona and Kerri finished a miniscule 1/100th of a point out of the all-around competition.

Looking back on her career, Kerri has said, "When you sacrifice so much and you finally do well, it feels really good."

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Read Kerri's Full Bio.