Kerri Strug

About Kerri Strug

Kerri Allyson Strug (born November 19, 1977) is an American gymnast from Tucson, Arizona.

Strug was trained by the legendary coach Bela Karolyi, and joined the United States National Team in 1991. In 1992, at age 14, she won a team bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympics, at which she was the youngest member of the entire U.S. team. Karolyi retired from coaching after the 1992 Games, leaving Strug to decide whether to continue or quit gymnastics. During this time, she switched gyms multiple times. Shortly after Karolyi's retirement, Kerri moved to Dynamo to train under the coaching of Steve Nunno, where she struggled with severe weight loss and a very serious injury to her stomach, as stated in her autobiography, Landing on My Feet: A Diary of Dreams. At the 1993 Nationals, Kerri placed 3rd in the all-around, 2nd on the uneven bars, and 3rd on floor exercise. She completed a soon-to-be-popular vault, the Yurchenko 1/2), however, she had a weak second vault and did not medal in that event. After this competition, Strug left Dynamo to train at Forster Gymnastics in Colorado.

1994 was supposed to be her comeback year, but at the U.S. Classic in Palm Springs, California she had a disaster on the uneven bars. While performing the compulsory uneven bars set (a giant to front giant to low bar catch) she pinged off the bar, subsequently releasing too early to be able to make the transition to low bar. She lost control and flew off the high bar backwards, landing in a twisted position on her side beneath the low bar. She curled up on the mat, gasping and struggling to breathe from the pain, and was carried out of the gym on a stretcher and was taken to Desert Regional Hospital. The injury turned out to be a badly pulled back muscle, which required extensive rehabilitation; amazingly, she recovered in time for the 1994 World Championships. There, she looked better than ever on the floor exercise with a powerful double layout mount and a full twisting double back. At the 1995 Nationals, Strug placed 5th in the AA and came in 3rd on the UB. Kerri gave an impressive display at the 1995 World Team Trials, especially on FX. At the 1995 World Championships, she was a member of the bronze medal-winning U.S. team, and she placed 7th in the AA. Her floor exercise was by far the most improved routine of the four.