Kerri Strug, an American retired gymnast from Tucson, Arizona, clinched the gold for the U.S. team despite having injured her ankle in the 1996 Olympics.
She injured her ankle at her first vault performance. Despite two torn ligaments in the ankle, she performed the second vault to ensure the U.S. had a gold medal.
The U.S. women’s gymnastics team arrived at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with a single, shared goal to win a gold medal.
They had watched others stand atop the Olympic podium for years, mainly Romanians and Russians. However, they vowed to make things different and clinched the gold for the U.S. team.
Their focus was absolute, and they stayed in a private area away from the Olympic village to avoid distractions at the Atlanta Olympics.
They settled into a quiet, stately fraternity house at Emory University, far from the crowds, which was lined with police tape, and a chain was draped across the driveway.
The U.S. women’s gymnastics team bonded like never before. They built an unbreakable unity away from the spotlight, and their intense focus and shared purpose had forged them into champions even before the competition began.
Kerri Strug Injured Her Ankle at her First Vault Performance
The 1996 Olympic gymnastics team final was a tense battle between the United States and Russia. The U.S. team held a strong lead heading into their final event, the vault.
However, their lead suddenly vanished when star gymnast Dominique Moceanu fell on both of her vaults.
After Moceanu’s tragic fall, the gold medal depended on Kerri Strug, often seen as the quiet understudy to her more famous teammates.
Netizens believed she didn’t possess the toughness, fearlessness, aggressiveness, and threshold of pain of her teammates, but that perception completely changed.
When Dom fell the first time, I thought, ‘No, I can’t believe it. She never falls. Then she fell a second time, and it was like, ‘Forget this. This is a nightmare.’ My heart was beating like crazy, knowing that it was now up to me. I thought, ‘This is it, Kerri. You’ve done this vault a thousand times, so just go out and do it.’
Kerri Strug
Strug took a deep breath and completed the difficult move, sprinting down the 75-foot runway like a woman possessed.
Sadly, she heard a sickening snap in her left ankle while landing and fell to the mat in pain. She was severely hurt, suffering from two torn ligaments in the ankle. Her parents covered their faces as they sat in the stands.
Strug scored 9.162, which kept the team’s gold medal in serious jeopardy. Coaches scrambled to see if she even needed to vault again, but without a second score, the team could lose.
Kerri Strug’s Courageous Golden Moment
The 1996 Olympic gymnastics team final was coming down to the final routine. The United States held a narrow lead over Russia, and the gold medal hinged on one last vault from Kerri Strug.
Her first vault had ended in a fall, leaving her with a severely injured ankle.
Coaches were in doubt, unsure whether Strug’s score was needed to win. Later, Coach Bela Karolyi approached her and asked her to go one more time for the gold.
Despite the agony, Strug rose. She removed the ice pack, said a quick prayer, and hobbled to the runway.
Please, God, help me make this vault. I know I can do it one more time, injured ankle or not.
Kerri Strug
This is the Olympics. This is what you dream about from when you’re 5 years old. I wasn’t going to stop.
The crowd held its breath as she sprinted and launched into the air. She hit the vault perfectly, soaring through her routine.
However, the landing was brutal. Her feet slammed into the mat, and a sickening crack was heard in her already injured ankle.
She held her balance somehow through sheer will, saluting the judges before collapsing in pain. She was carried off on a stretcher before her score posted 9.712 on the giant scoreboard.
The U.S. gymnasts and the crowd break out in emotional tears of joy, assuring the United States of the gold medal.
Later, it was revealed that her vault wasn’t mathematically necessary, and the U.S. would have won without it.
Her incredible act of courage, sacrificing her body for her team, became the defining image of the Atlanta Games.
In my 35 years of coaching, I have never seen such a moment. People think these girls are fragile dolls. They’re not. They’re courageous.
Coach Bela Karolyi
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Kerri Allyson Strug, the daughter of Melanie Barron and Dr. Burt Strug, was born on November 19, 1977, in Tucson, Arizona.
- She married attorney Robert Fischer on April 25, 2010, and they have two children, Tyler William Fischer and Alayna Madaleine.
- She is Jewish.
