Kerri Strug and the Magnificent Seven

Sunday 11 November 2012

   Kerri Strug is a retired American gymnast. She started training gymnastics at the age of eight. At the age of fourteen she won a team bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympics, 1992. In 1996 she participated in the Atlanta Olympics.

    This was the highest point of Kerri's career. In the final rotation the Russians had an advantage of 0.897 from the second classified, the USA team. The Russians were doing a floor exercise and the Americans were doing a vault exercise. In the first vault attempt Strug damaged her ankle but she was encouraged to do the second attempt in order to ensure a good result for the team.

Kerri did the second vault and received a score of 9.712. She landed the vault in only one foot, something that had never been seen before. This vault made the USA team win the first team gold medal in gymnastics and Kerri was considered a national hero.

    Strug was unable to compete to win a medal of her own because she sacrificed her interests for the team interests. The USA gymnastics team of 1996 was the first to win a gold medal and was named Magnificent Seven for this accomplishment. Kerri shows us that only when we are willing to make sacrifices we can win as a team.

    Team spirit, solidarity and hard work are crucial to evolution. These concepts must be applied not only to sports but in every single thing we do. At work, at school and in our family relationships. We must show that we are available to help others and show that we are humble enough to accept the help of others. Only by sharing knowledge and by caring about the people around us we can be happy and satisfied with our actions.

Diana Barros