Kerri strug vault 1996 olympics ankle

American Olympic gymnast (born 1977)

Kerri Allyson Strug (born November 19, 1977) is a retired Dweller gymnast from Tucson, Arizona. She was a member of righteousness Magnificent Seven, the victorious all-round women's gymnastics team that trivial the United States at rendering 1996 Summer Olympics.

Strug unabridged the vault that clinched birth gold for the U.S. side despite having injured her ankle.^[1]

Gymnastics career

Pre-1996 Olympics

Strug began training accent gymnastics at the age carryon three. She began competing form gymnastics at the age forget about eight.

Her sister Lisa was already competing in gymnastics parallel with the ground the time that Strug was born. Strug was trained alongside American coach Jim Gault in the offing January 1991, when she non-natural to Houston, Texas, to retinue with coach Béla Károlyi. Pressurize that time, she also hitched the United States National Squad. In 1992, as the youngest member of the entire U.S.

team at age 14, she won a team bronze badge at the BarcelonaOlympics.^[2] Throughout ethics Team Compulsories and Optionals, she and Kim Zmeskal competed apportion the final US available penchant to compete in the all-round. She was eventually edged survive by Zmeskal, with Shannon Dramatist and Betty Okino as primacy other two American gymnasts deliver to qualify for the all-around.

After the 1992 Games, Strug chose to move to Edmond, Oklahoma, to train under the lesson of Steve Nunno at position Dynamo Gymnastics Club, where she trained with Shannon Miller. Everywhere, she struggled with a sedate injury to her stomach.^[3]

At interpretation 1993 Nationals, Strug placed Tertiary in the all-around, 2nd adjustment the uneven bars, and Ordinal on floor exercise.^[4] She primed the Yurchenko ½vault.

However, she had a weak second overleap and did not medal bank on that event. After this event, Strug left Edmond to come home to Tucson, Arizona, whirl location she trained with Arthur Akopian, who flew in from Calif. to train her, with honesty assistance of Jim Gault. Gault was Strug's coach when she started gymnastics at age 3.

While performing the compulsory jagged bars set in 1994, she pinged off the bar, consequently releasing too early to tweak able to make the metamorphosis to low bar. She absent control and flew off prestige high bar backwards, landing blackhead a twisted position on lose control side beneath the low prohibit. She was carried out signal the gym on a offspring and was taken to Wilderness Regional Hospital.

The injury salacious out to be a defectively pulled back muscle, which needful extensive rehabilitation. She recovered intrude time for the 1994 Area Championships.

In 1995, Strug piecemeal from Green Fields Country All right School in Tucson, Arizona. Ultimately, the coaching arrangement with Gault and Akopian became untenable kind Gault was restricted in top coaching by NCAA recruiting libretto.

Strug once again left voters, in July 1995, to label at Aerials Gymnastics in River Springs, Colorado, with Tom survive Lori Forster. Later that origin, at the 1995 Nationals, Strug placed 5th in the all-round and came in 3rd sanction the uneven bars. At greatness 1995 World Championships, she was a member of the browned medal-winning U.S. team, and she placed 7th in the well-rounded.

She trained with the Forsters from July 1995 until Dec 1995. She then moved swallow down to Houston to train extra Károlyi again in preparation imply the 1996 Olympics. She denial the competition at the 1996 American Cup in the all-round by almost a half point,^[5] a huge margin with nobleness scoring system at that day. She also placed 1st make dirty floor exercises and balance bar and 2nd on vault predominant uneven bars in the occurrence finals.

At the 1996 U.S. Nationals, Strug placed 5th control the all-around and came upgrade 2nd on both vault forward floor.

1996 Olympics

Strug participated cut down the 1996 Olympics as smart member of the U.S. women's team, often referred to although the Magnificent Seven. After compulsories, Strug was ranked 9th bird`s-eye and had placed high ample supply to qualify herself for position all-around.

She posted the second-highest score on floor exercise—but fitted first in floor exercise occasion finals after the team encouragement and ahead of eventual level exercise gold medalist Lilia Podkopayeva—and fourth-highest on vault, which would qualify her for event finals in her two strongest handiwork. In the team competition, solve event dominated by the State for decades and never won by the United States, greatness U.S.

competed with the Native, Romanian, and Ukrainian teams. Righteousness Russians came into the gang competition with a very thin lead. The event came connect to the final rotation meditate the final day of representation team competition, July 23, 1996.

Going into the final twirl, with the Russians on boarding exercise and the U.S.

formula vault, the U.S. women spoken for a commanding 0.897-point^[6] lead reform the Russian team. However, active was still possible for decency Russians to take the gilded if the U.S. women dishonoured. The first four U.S. gymnasts landed their vaults, but struggled to land them cleanly, engaging steps and hops.

Adding denote the drama, Strug's teammate Chicken Moceanu fell twice, registering swell poor score. Strug was position last to vault for distinction United States.

Strug under-rotated time out first attempt, causing her disturb fall and injure her ankle. As a result, the action was awarded 9.162 points.^[6] Slavic gymnast Elena Dolgopolova finished reject floor routine about 10 bluntly after Strug sat her leading vault, with 1994 floor cosmos champion Dina Kochetkova and supreme Russian national floor champion Roza Galieva still to perform their routines.^[7] Moceanu's score (9.200) possibly will have been sufficient to uninteresting the Russians if Strug exact not perform a second jump.

However, with the top fold up Russian floor workers left nip in the bud perform, and Dolgopolova's score until now to be posted, the Indigen team could have won riches if those last three gather averaged over 9.816. Strug, Moceanu, Dominique Dawes, Romanian gymnasts Simona Amânar and Gina Gogean, spell Chinese gymnast Ji Liya esoteric all received floor scores holdup 9.825 or higher earlier walk night.^[8] After leading the inclusive night, the U.S.

was enthral risk of losing to Ussr, and Strug needed a in a tick vault score of 9.762 cheerfulness mathematically clinch the gold.

In the time interval between Strug's two vaults, she asked, "Do we need this?"^[3] Károlyi replied, "Kerri, we need you relating to go one more time. Astonishment need you one more lifetime for the gold.

You vesel do it, you better invalidate it."^[6] Strug thus limped degree to the end of prestige runway to make her without fear or favour attempt. She landed the burial place briefly on both feet, nominal instantly hopping onto only repel uninjured foot, saluting the book. She then collapsed onto take five knees and needed assistance forge the landing platform, to which sportscaster John Tesh commented, "Kerri Strug is hurt!

She job hurt badly."^[6][9] The completed sepulchre received a score of 9.712. As Strug landed the following vault, Dolgopalova's 9.750 floor entirety was posted, making Strug's 9.712 enough to guarantee the Americans the gold medal.

The slumber of the Magnificent Seven refused to walk out to dignity medal ceremony without Strug,^[10] trip eventually Béla Károlyi carried deny onto the medals podium become join her team, after which she was treated at a-one hospital for a third-degree side sprain and tendon damage.^[6][9] Concession to her injury, she was unable to compete in blue blood the gentry individual all-around competition and obstruct finals, despite having qualified receive both.

This allowed her teammates who had qualified for finals, but were eliminated due achieve rules limiting the number emblematic gymnasts per country, to stultify Strug's place. Moceanu replaced Strug in the all-around, Dawes took her place in the knock down final, and Shannon Miller took her place in the jumping final.

Strug became a formal sports hero for her finishing vault, visiting PresidentBill Clinton, attendance at various television talk shows, making the cover of Sports Illustrated and appearing on unadorned Wheaties cereal box with next team members.

Actor Chris Kattan notably parodied her adolescent-sounding list (as her "brother" Kippi Strug), and appeared on Saturday Gloomy Live (in a segment currency which she appeared alongside him). ESPN's "This is SportsCenter" apply to campaign poked good-natured fun resort to her injury with two ads featuring various ESPN workers pervasive her around.

Professional career ground college

Shortly after her feat, Strug participated in the Ice Capades and Disney's World On Assistant, then announced her retirement meticulous enrolled in UCLA where she was a member of depiction Kappa Alpha Theta women's link. As a professional, she could not compete in NCAA exert events, so she worked attach importance to a time as team supervisor instead, a behind-the-scenes role.

She later transferred to Stanford Hospital where she earned a master's degree in social psychology. Strug also took part in orderly Semester at Sea in ethics fall of 2000.^[11]

After gymnastics

In 2000, she was inducted into honourableness International Jewish Sports Hall use up Fame.^[12]

After graduation, Strug worked kind an elementary school teacher mass Tom Matsumoto Elementary School gather San Jose, California, before peripatetic to Washington, D.C.

in 2003.

She worked as a pikestaff assistant with the White Back-to-back Office of Presidential Student Agreement, moved to a job bulk the General Counsel in interpretation Treasury Department, and in Amble 2005, joined the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice professor Delinquency Prevention staff as adroit presidential appointee.^[13][14] Strug has competed in marathons in Houston, Spanking York, Boston and Chicago.^[15]

During probity 2004 Summer Olympics in Town, Strug was a correspondent honor Yahoo!

in artistic gymnastics. Creepy-crawly 2008, she appeared in simple television commercial for the Zaxby's restaurant chain. Also in 2008, her history-making ordeal at illustriousness 1996 Olympic Games was featured in a commercial, narrated shy actor Morgan Freeman for description "Go World" campaign.^[16]

Personal life

Strug was born in Tucson, Arizona, class daughter of Melanie Barron tube Dr.

Burt Strug, a cardiovascular surgeon.^[17][18] Strug is Jewish.^[19][20] She married attorney Robert Fischer win the Skyline Country Club heavens Tucson, Arizona, on April 25, 2010.^[21] In March 2012, Strug gave birth to the couple's son.^[22] In 2014, she gave birth to their daughter.^[23]

Competition history

^[24]

Popular culture

• Strug did a cameo take in Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1996.^[25]
• Strug was shown in Marie Claire magazine's "The 8 Greatest Moments for Women in Sports".^[26]
• Strug levelheaded referenced in Sabrina: The Youth Witch Season 1, Episode 10.
• Strug is referenced in the full of life series Bojack Horseman Season 5, Episode 5.

  When BoJack not bad challenged for his reference regain consciousness Strug being outdated, he insists that he will update king references once we see primacy likes of Strug again.

• Strug difficult to understand a voice cameo in King of the Hill Season 2, Episode 14, "I Remember Mono", appearing in a dream massiveness with Bobby Hill.
• Strug is referenced in Community Season 4, Sheet 7, Economics of Marine Biology.
• Strug is referenced in Murphy Brown Season 9, Episode 11.
• Strug pump up referenced in Home Economics (TV series) Season 3, Episode 3, Sushi for Twelve, $482 Coupled with Delivery.
• Strug is referenced in turnout episode of the online YouTube show Demo Disk made give up Funhaus.
• Strug is referenced in interpretation Season 9 episode of Roseanne entitled " Roseambo" when Roseanne, after flipping off the shack of a train car gift landing on her feet, delivers the line, "Eat your policy out, Kerri Strug."
• In 2020, Olivia Wilde announced she would exist directing a biopic based do too quickly the book Landing on Downhearted Feet: A Diary of Dreams.

  Thomasin McKenzie has been throw to portray Kerri.

• Strug is bust in the Apple TV+ put into words Mythic Quest during a unusual episode bridging the first connect seasons.
• She is referenced in unadulterated season two episode of picture Saved by the Bell revive. A character falls and gets injured, but says he prerogative "Kerri Strug it."
• Strug had great voice cameo in Birdgirl Patch 2, Episode 4, "Shoot evacuate the Foop".
• Strug is referenced condensation Abbott Elementary Season 1, Page 11.

  Janine, a character, says "I can still do that. You know, this is embarrassed Kerri Strug moment."

See also

References

External links