Kerri Strug

Profile

Family Name: Strug
First Name: Kerri
Middle Name: Allison
Date of Birth: November 19th, 1977
Birthplace: Tucson, Arizona
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Club (until 1996): Karolyi Gymnastics
Coaches (until 1996): Bela and Martha Karolyi
Began Gymnastics: 1982
Favorite Event: Floor Exercise
School: Stanford University
Parents: Burt and Melanie Strug
Siblings: Kevin and Lisa
Favorite Music: Rock & Roll, Country
Favorite Food: Pizza, frozen yogurt, chicken ceasar, fat free muffin
Hobbies: Reading, shopping, spending time with family and friends
Particularity: She's run two marathons

photo by Matthew Barber

Top Achievements

1991 World Championships Silver Medalist (Team)
1991 U.S. National Championships Gold Medalist (Vault), Bronze Medalist (AA, Bars) and Event Finalist (4th Beam, 4th Floor)
1992 U.S. National Championships Gold Medalist (Vault, Floor), Silver Medalist (AA, Beam), Bronze Medalist (Bars)
1992 Olympic Bronze Medalist (Team)
1993 American Cup Silver Medalist (AA)
1993 U.S. National Championships Silver Medalist (Bars) and Bronze Medalist (AA, Floor) and Event Finalist (4th Vault)
1993 World Championships Finalist (Vault, Floor)
1994 Team World Championships Silver Medalist
1995 U.S. National Championships Bronze Medalist (Bars), Event Finalist (4th Floor) and 5th AA
1995 World Championships Bronze Medalist (Team)
1996 American Cup Champion and Gold Medalist (AA, Beam, Floor)
1996 U.S. National Championships Silver Medalist (Vault, Floor) and 5th AA
1996 Olympic Gold Medalist (Team)

For complete results, see her USA Gymnastics Official Biography

Biography

Kerri began practising gymnastics because her older sister Lisa, whom she idolized, was involved in the sport. When she was three years old, Kerri was enrolled in a 'Mom and Tots' gymnastics class. She fell in love with the sport and competed in her first meet at age 8. She trained in Tucson with University of Arizona coach Jim Gault for several years, but when she was 12 years old, Kerri decided she had to find a coach who could help her make it to the Olympics. So she insisted on going to Karolyi's (her sister, who had quit gymnastics by then, had gone to a Karolyi's summer camp when she was younger). Kerri's parents weren't too happy about their daughter's decision, but eventually, they agreed to let her go to Houston.
Kerri moved to Texas when she was 13. She had to work out 6 to 7 days a week, 8 hours a day. Kerri was staying with a host family, and even if she could visit her aunt and uncle who lived in the area in the weekends, being away from home was very hard for her at the time. But she was making progress in her gymnastics: she qualified for the 1991 World Championships and helped the team to win a silver medal. However, her performances were overshadowed by those of teammate Kim Zmeskal, who won the individual all-around in Indianapolis. In fact, the American team had so many good gymnasts that Kerri didn't even make it to the all-around (only 3 gymnasts per country were allowed to enter competition 2). As she qualified for the 1992 Olympics, she was determined to make this change. Unfortunately, the exact same thing happened in Barcelona: the team earned a medal (only a bronze medal this time), but Kerri missed the all-around by 0.001.
After the Olympics, when Bela Karolyi announced his retirement, Kerri was left without a coach. She first moved to Florida, then to Oklahoma. She qualified for the 1993 World Championships, but she was once again overshadowed by her compatriots' performances.
Kerri was also having physical problems. She tore a stomach muscle and had to go back to Tucson for six months. While she was home, she finished high school and spent much time with family and friends. She started working out again, and just when everything was falling into place, Kerri had to deal with another major injury: in August 1994, at a local meet in Arizona, she was on the uneven bars when her grip slipped and she swung backwards off the bar. She severely pulled her back muscles. While many people thought her gymnastics career was over, Kerri made an amazing comeback. A couple a of months after the fall, she was back in the gym, and in November, she helped the U.S. Team to win a silver medal at the Team World Championships.
After graduating from High School in 1995, Kerri began to consider the 1996 Olympics. She decided to return to Karolyi's. Indeed, Bela had come out of retirement in 1994 to coach young Dominique Moceanu and former world champion Kim Zmeskal, who was attempting a comback.
So Kerri went back to Houston, and things seemed to work out pretty well: even if training at Karolyi's was still very tough, both Bela and Martha were easier to talk to than in the past. After numerous moves around the country in the last three years, Kerri was back on track.
In 1996, she won the prestigious American Cup, defeating gymnasts such as Svetlana Boguinskaya or reigning American Cup champion Kristy Powell. Despite a fall off the beam at the National Championships, Kerri qualified for the Olympic Trials in Boston, where she finished second to Dominique Dawes and earned a spot on the Olympic Team. Kerri, who was the youngest member of the 1992 Olympic Team, would go to Atlanta as one of the veterans.
As we all know, the rest is history. In Atlanta, the girls won the first team gold medal for the U.S. in women's gymnastics history. But what everyone will remember is Kerri's last vault in the team competition. We've all heard the story a thousand times: the American team was just ahead of the Russians when Dominique Moceanu sat down on her two vaults. Kerri, who was the last American gymnast to go, also sat down on her first one. Worse: she injured her ankle. But despite the pain, Kerri was determined to win the gold for the team and qualify for the all-around. So she ran down the runway, performed her vault and stuck a solid landing. She saluted the judges and then she collapsed in pain. She was put into a stretcher and taken to the medical room, but she insisted on attending the awards ceremony. Bela, even if he wasn't allowed to enter the competition area because he wasn't one of the official coaches, carried Kerri (who wasn't wearing any pants) onto the podium to receive her gold medal. Even if Kerri's vault later proved to have been unnecessary because of some poor performances of the Russian team in the last rotation, this moment is considered as one of the highlights of the Atlanta Olympics.
Because of her injury, Kerri was unable to take any further part in the Games (despite having qualified for the all-around and two event finals). But for the first time in her life, she got more attention than any of the other girls in the team. Everybody in America called her a hero, she got a telephone call from President Clinton, she made the cover of several magazines and was invited to numerous television shows such as The Today Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Saturday Night Live, the Rosie Show, Regis and Kathy Lee,... She even made her debut as... an actress on 'Beverly Hills 90210' and 'Touched by an Angel'!
In the fall of 1996, Kerri entered the University of California to pursue a degree in communications. She went on tour with several Olympic champions (but not her teammates), and a year later, she (co)wrote her autobiography entitled 'Landing On My Feet: A Diary Of Dreams'. She went on tour that year, too, but with her teammates of the Magnificent Seven this time.
In 1998, Kerri left UCLA for Stanford. Apparently, she does not plan to return to gymnastics.

Quotations

"I like any kind of music but heavy medal."(spelled as she wrote it)

"Fans regularly ask if they can carry me like Bela for a picture. If I'm in a good mood, I say 'Sure'. If I'm not, I say 'I'm heavier than you think'." (USA Today, 2000).

Links

Athlete Direct: Kerri Strug
Kerri Strug: One Of America's Great Athletes
Kerri Strug Online
Kerri Strug Page
Kerri Strug's (Official) Homepage
The Ultimate Kerri Strug Homepage
USA Gymnastics Official Biography