Kerri Strug (1977-present) is a two-time Olympian and gold medalist. In 1992, she was the youngest American Olympian. In 1996, she helped the US team win the gold by competing in vault on an injured ankle.
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This month we're celebrating the women who performed physical and mental feats in sports. They overcame societal barriers, personal struggles, and fierce competition to pursue their dreams of glory. We're talking about Athletes.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Hannah Bottum, Lauren Willams, and Adrien Behn. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
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Episode Transcript
Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Wamanica. This month were celebrating women who performed physical
and mental feats in sports. They overcame societal barriers, personal struggles,
and fierce competition to pursue their dreams of glory.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We're talking about athletes.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
In nineteen ninety six, the best gymnasts in the world
were all gathered in one place, Atlanta, under the lights
of the Georgia Dome. They were there for the Summer Olympics.
The women of the US gymnastics team were the underdogs.
They had never won gold. The Russians had taken home
that honor every Olympics since nineteen forty eight. But over
(00:43):
the course of the competition, the underdogs had risen to
the challenge. By the last event, the US team had
a solid lead over the Russians. It looked like they
were going to take home gold. But then they began
the vault competition. One of the American gymnasts fell twice.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
The team's hope of victory was slipping away.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
There was just one person left to compete, one who
could make her break the team's chances at the gold.
Her name was Carrie Strug. The crowd watched with baited
breath as Carrie gazed down the seventy five foot runway
that led to the vault. She squared her shoulders, took
a deep breath, and started to sprint towards the vault.
(01:26):
What happened next captivated the world and changed the way
that female gymnasts were perceived. Let's talk about Carrie's Strug.
Carrie Strug was raised in Tucson, Arizona. By the time
she was born, her older sister had already started competing
in gymnastics, so Carrie, who wanted to be just like
her sister, started learning gymnastics two when she was three
(01:48):
years old. At the age of eight, Carrie was competing
in gymnastics meets and excelling in the sport. By the
time she was twelve, Carrie decided she wanted to try
to make it to the Olympics. That might sound young,
but most gymnasts hit their peak in their teenage years.
She was the perfect age to make a go for it,
(02:08):
so Carrie moved by herself to Houston to train with
Bella Caroli, a gymnastics legend known for his success on
the podium and his ruthless coaching tactics, Carrie began training
six to.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Seven days a week for eight hours a day.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Just a few years later, in nineteen ninety two, she
qualified for the nineteen ninety two Barcelona Olympic Games. Carrie
was fourteen years old, the youngest person on the American
Olympic team. She helped her team since the bronze medal,
but she just missed making it into the top three
in all around competition. Carrie's career was on the rise,
(02:47):
but then Bella announced he was retiring, leaving her without
a coach. Over the next three years, Carrie trained with
three different coaches, persevering through multiple severe injuries, but she
wasn't connecting with any of her coaches the way she
had with Bella. Her Olympic dreams seemed out of reach. Then,
in nineteen ninety five, Bella announced he was coming out
(03:09):
of retirement. Carrie flew back to Houston to train with
him once more. A year later, she'd secured her spot
on the nineteen ninety six Olympic team, which is how
Carrie found herself in Atlanta staring down the seventy five
foot runway of the Vault with the fate of the
US team resting on her shoulders. Carrie wasn't a star
(03:30):
on the Olympic team by any means. Bella, her own coach,
once said, you'll never see Carrie on a wheatie's box.
But now all eyes were on her.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
So Carrie strugg It is up to her.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
If she can score nine point four nine three or better,
then she will win the team gold for the USA.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
She's the last to goal.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
She's the only one who can do it. Carrie breathed
in and out. She thought to herself, You've done this
vault one thousand times times, so just go out and
do it. She took off at a sprint, did a
back handspring onto the vault, and then pushed herself up,
launching herself into the air, turning once and then twice
before falling down and landing with the sound of a snack.
(04:15):
Carrie had fallen backwards on her landing, and during her fall,
the bone in her left ankle had been shoved forward
and then back into place. She had two torn ligaments,
but Carrie didn't know any of this yet.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Standing on the.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Other side of the vault, her ankle throbbing with pain,
Carrie only knew that her shaky landing might not have
been good enough to ensure her team the gold. She
had thirty seconds to decide whether she was going to
vault again. She looked at her coach Bella and asked,
do we need this? He told her that they did
(04:51):
so once again, Carrie stepped up to the runway leading
up to the vault. On her injured ankle, she broke
into a sprint just like Befo. She leapt high into
the air as she spun once twice. The whole audience
held their breath. Finally, Carrie landed perfectly on both feet
(05:11):
as she hit the mat. Carrie her a second snap,
but before she succumbed to the pain, she threw her
arms up into the typical gymnast pose, smiling for the judges.
Then she hopped on her right leg to turn to
face the crowd. Finally, after Carrie was sure it was
all over, she crumpled to the ground in tears, clutching
her ankle. Her score was a nine point seventy one tide.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
She was there for gone for her team, for her country.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
The USA Women's gymnastics team had won the gold medal. Later,
Carrie and her coaches realized that she didn't actually need
to do the second vault. They could have won gold
without it. Regardless, Carrie's ability to compete through immense pain
captivated the world. Bella later said that she showed the
world that gymnasts have the hearts of tigers. After the Olympics,
(06:07):
Carrie got to bask in her newfound fame. She went
on talk shows, toured with Disney's World on ice, and
was featured on a Wheatie's Box. Eventually, Carrie graduated from
Stamford with a master's degree in sociology and began working
with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency program. She
lives in Arizona with her husband and two children. All month,
(06:30):
We're talking about Athletes. For more information, find us on
Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan,
my favorite sister and co creator.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Talk to you tomorrow.
Host
Jenny Kaplan
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