Gymnastics · 1996 · Atlanta, USA
The Vault on One Good Leg
With a team gold medal apparently riding on the result, an 18-year-old gymnast lands a second vault on a badly sprained ankle rather than risk the title on her first attempt.
9.162 (fall, injury)
First vault score
9.712
Second vault score
18
Age
In the team final at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Kerri Strug under-rotated her first vault attempt and fell, spraining her ankle badly enough to tear ligaments and damage tendons. Coach Béla Károlyi, believing the United States still needed a strong score from her to hold off Russia for the team title, told her: 'You can do it.'
Strug took her second vault anyway, landed it well enough to stick a brief finish on both feet before immediately hopping onto her uninjured leg, saluted the judges, and collapsed in pain. The vault scored 9.712, and Károlyi carried her to the podium for the medal ceremony because she could not stand unassisted.
Later analysis suggested the United States had already done enough on other scores to win gold without that second vault, but nobody knew that in the arena at the time, least of all Strug. The image of her salute on one leg became the signature moment of the 'Magnificent Seven' team's win and one of the most replayed scenes in Olympic history.
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