Kerri Strug And The Rest Of The Olympics’ 'Magnificent 7' Lead Very Different Lives Now
The year was 1996, and America was going crazy for one particular group of athletes. But these were unlikely megastars. A group of young girls, these immensely talented gymnasts had been thrown into stardom while still at high school age. And their stories are quite remarkable. Yet the baby-faced heroines of the Atlanta Olympics have moved on now, and today you might not even recognize them walking past you.
Superstar medal winners
The “Magnificent Seven” consisted of Kerri Strug, Amanda Borden, Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Dominique Dawes, Jaycie Phelps and Amy Chow. Their friends and family watched in breathless anticipation as they performed their routines, knowing it could all go wrong – but they won the gold medal for the United States.
American sporting heroes
Everyone watching the Olympics went wild for the medal-winning girls. The New York Times newspaper said at the time, “Until now, [America] has never had a team of women capture so many hearts, imaginations and a gold medal on the world’s biggest sporting stage.”
A look back
But of course that was over 25 years ago. What happened to them after their triumphant victory? Once the spotlight had faded, they were free to do more or less whatever they wanted. So let’s see what each of them are up to these days – and what they thought of their moment in the sun.
Kerri Strug
Kerri Strug was the girl responsible for one of the most memorable moments in U.S. sporting history. As she performed a vault in front of an audience of millions, she felt her ankle snap. Through the pain she heard her coach Béla Károlyi shouting “You can do it!” from the sidelines. But could she?
