Kerri Allyson Strug Biography

Kerri Allyson Strug is a retired American gymnast who competed in the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. She says that she had been known as a normal gymnast, but after her vault which earned United States a gold medal, her whole life changed. She gained confidence and became mentally tough.
Kerri was born on the 19th of November in 1977 in Toscana, Arizona. (She is turning 39 this year)Her father, Burt Strug is a heart surgeon and her mother Melanie Brown. She is the little sister of Kevin and Lisa Strug. Unlike many gymnasts who are pushed into sports by their parents at an early age, Kerri chose the hard life of a gymnast herself. Initially Kerri’s interest in gymnastics was just a natural desire to imitate her older siblings who are also athlete in gymnastics. Her parents supported her ambition and enrolled her in a gymnastics class at the age of 4.
She started dreaming about being a gymnast, when she was inspired by Mary Lou rotten, at the age of 5.By the time she was 6, she was receiving private lessons from Jim Gault.
When Kerri was 7, she
In 1992, the summer Olympics was held in Barcelona, Spain. She was also the youngest Olympian there. In 1992, Coach Bela Karolyi announced his retirement therefore Kerri had to find another coach. Kerri tried several coaches but none was as good as Coach Karolyi. In 1994, Coach Karolyi came out of retirement and continued to train Kerri. In 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, It was Kerri’s turn to do the vault and the chances of United States winning a gold medal was all depending on her. She needed to sprint down a 75 foot runway and do a difficult vault which consisted of a handspring and a twist. As she did her vault, she slipped and fell onto the ground. She heard a crack in her left ankle. Feeling the pain from the ankle Kerri realised that she might have lost the