The team had once held a dominant lead, but with three missed landings in a row and a few Russian gymnasts yet to have their scores recorded, Strug wrote in her biography "Landing on my Feet" that she felt the gold medal was still up for grabs. I thought, Gosh, that's brave when she really doesn't have to do it."Īfter Strug injured her ankle on her first vault attempt, Strug and her coaches only had about 30 seconds to decide if she would vault again.
#Easportsrorymcilroypgatour added back to vault how to
"In the excitement of the moment, I think they forgot how to add. In 1997, one of the officials who was working the scoring table at the event told Sports Illustrated that she was surprised Strug did the final vault because Team USA had already secured the victory.
But did Strug and her team know it at the time? It's easy to look back and make calculations based on hypotheticals, but what about in that moment? Was it mathematically possible for Russia to win without Strug's final vault? That answer is a little more nuanced. Strug's final vault wasn't needed to secure Team USA's gold medal. She then found the strength to straighten her 4'9", 87-pound body just long enough to hop on one foot and turn twice-once to each table of judges-before dropping to her knees with what was later diagnosed as a third-degree sprained ankle. And without the benefit of that knowledge, the 18-year-old Tucson native slammed off the takeoff board, slapped her two hands down on the vaulting horse with a puff of white resin dust and nailed a landing that she absolutely believed she had to have for the gold medal. would have won the gold without Strug's last vault, but neither she nor her teammates knew that at the time. win its first Olympic gold medal in the women's team event. In a moment that will be compared to Shun Fujimoto's gut-wrenching dismount from the rings with a broken leg to win the 1976 team gold medal for Japan or-for sheer drama-to Mary Lou Retton's perfect 10 on the vault at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, Strug provided the most memorable athletic moment of the first four days of the Atlanta Games with a teeth-grinding 9.712 vault that helped the U.S. She thought she needed to stick her last vault for the U.S. gymnast on the last apparatus of the last day of the women's team competition. However, when the final scores of the event were tallied, it was revealed that Team USA could have won gold even if Strug had sat out the final event. We don't doubt that Strug's performance showed amazing grit, nor the fact that her final vault solidified Team USA's gold medal.
One viral post (which made no direct reference to Biles) claimed that Strug fought through the pain of her ankle injury because it was "the only way Team USA had a chance at Gold." This idea is central to most people's memory of Strug's heroic vault, as demonstrated in the Olympics' own recounting of the event in the above-displayed video. These comparisons typically criticized Biles for being "weak" while praising Strug for being "strong."
While Strug's vault is one of the most memorable moments in recent Olympic history for many American audiences, special attention was paid to her performance in July 2021 after American gymnast Simon Biles pulled out of the competition. Strug sprinted 77.3-feet down the runway, launched herself into the air, twisted, flipped, and landed (practically on one foot) for a score of 9.712, mathematically guaranteeing a gold medal for her team. Team USA had a dominant lead over the Russians, but with two poor landings from Strug's teammate, 14-year-old Dominique Moceanu, and with the scores of two Russian gymnasts yet to be tallied, it appeared that USA's gold medal chances rested squarely on the injured Strug's shoulders. On July 23, 1996, American gymnast Kerri Strug hobbled to her starting position on an injured ankle for one last attempt at Olympic glory. In retrospect, team USA would have still won gold, even if Strug sat out her final vault. In the moment, as the scores for Russia's final two gymnasts had not been tallied, Strug's second vault performance was deemed necessary to solidify USA's gold medal.
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