The Magnificent Seven Win Olympic Home Gold

Sports

In Atlanta Georgia, on July 23, 1996, the American gymnastics team won the first women’s Olympic team gold medal in U.S. history. The team took the gold over the second-place Russians and the third-place Romanians. Team members included Amanda Borden, Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Jaycie Phelps, and Kerri Strug. The girls were coached by Bela Karolyi, Martha Karolyi, and Mary Lee Tracy. This tremendous feat established the United States as a leader in the sport, not a follower any longer. Russia was the nation that best represented the Soviet legacy of dominance in the sport, and the Romanians were two-time defending world champions. The United States’ Magnificent 7, who had captured many hearts and imaginations, had defeated both.

In 1984, the U.S. had received a silver medal in the Los Angeles Games. They took bronze in the 1992 games. This time, the team had the home crowd on their side as well as experience. The team had an average age of 18 and three veteran Olympians. Miller, Dawes, and Strug had all been there before.
The main story of the day that will be remembered was about Keri Strug’s valiant effort on the vault. On the landing of her first vault, the American’s last event, Strug heard a “snap” in her ankle as she fell. She did not want to miss the opportunity and all that the team had worked for. Knowing that Moceanu had fallen on both her vaults and that she had fallen on her first, she was not about to quit. With a severely sprained ankle, Strug performed the team’s last vault, a one-and-a-half twisting Yurchenko, almost perfectly and had a clean landing before she dropped to the mat grimacing in pain. She was carried out of the arena and back in later for the medal ceremony. The team would have won, even without her last vault, but she did not know that at the time. She just knew she had to do it for her team and for the gold.Individually, Miller had a combined point total from Sunday and Monday’s competition to be second behind the defending world champion from Ukraine, Lilia Podkopayeva. Dawes was sixth. Strug was seventh. Moceanu was eleventh. Strug also qualified for the finals on floor and vault, but after being taken to the hospital, was unable to compete.