Bela Karolyi carries Kerri Strug to the podium during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics after she suffered an ankle injury

What did Bela Karolyi say to Kerri Strug? Everything to know about how the 18-year-old overcame ankle injury to win gold for USA in Atlanta 1996

Modified Jul 08, 2024 06:51 GMT

The USA women's gymnastics team won their first-ever gold medal in the team all-around event at the 1996 Olympic Games, where major credit for the victory went to Kerri Strug.

Strug displayed a remarkable performance with her unwavering determination despite suffering from an ankle injury. The U.S. squad was leading by a narrow margin over the Russians when Dominique Moceanu had two unsuccessful landings.

The weight of all hopes for a first-ever gold medal fell on Strug's shoulders. In her first attempt, she not only failed to stick the landing, but suffered a severe injury in her left ankle, tearing two ligaments.

Kerri Strug had one more attempt to revive USA's chance for the first-ever gold medal when she turned to coach Karolyi and asked:

“Do we need this?”

The latter, known for his demanding coaching style said:

“Kerri, we need you to go one more time. We need one more time for gold."

“You can do it!... You better do it," Karolyi said.

Undeterred by the injury, Strug prepared herself as she dragged herself back to the vault and executed a historic performance by landing the perfect Yurchenko with a 1½ twist. After delivering a perfect landing, she came down on her knees on the mat.

Strug’s 9.712 score earned the USA gymnastics team the much-awaited gold medal in the all-around event which was dominated by the Russians and the Romanians for several years.

The gymnast was carried to the podium during the medal ceremony by Karolyi as the 'Magnificient Seven' refused to occupy the podium without her.

"There were more expectations because we didn’t win the first time around" - Kerri Strug reflected on the 1992 and 1996 Olympic

Kerri Strug competed at the Olympics for the first time in the 1992 Barcelona Games when she was 14 years old. She qualified just a month before the games and was the youngest gymnast on the team.

The USA team, including Kerri Strug, Shannon Miller, Betty Okino, Kim Zmeskal, Wendy Bruce, and Dominique Dawes had to settle on the bronze medal in the women's all-around team event as the Unified Team of former Soviet Republics and Romania continued their dominance.

In an NBC interview in 2016, the gymnast reminisced about their performance at the 1992 Olympics and expressed that the expectations had risen for the 1996 Games.

"For me, there were more expectations because we didn’t win the first time around," Strug expressed.