In celebration of Arizona's centennial, the Star will feature our picks for the 100 best athletes, moments and teams.
Throughout the summer, we will showcase our list - with the first 90 in no particular order. In August, Greg Hansen will choose his top 10, with a column on each.
Kerri Strug
Achievement
Kerri Strug's opinion of her own gymnastics career before the 1996 Summer Olympics wasn't favorable.
"I was always second fiddle," Strug told Sports Illustrated in 1997. "If they took two girls to the finals, I was third. If they took three, I was fourth."
That certainly changed at the Atlanta Games in '96.
Part of the "Magnificent Seven," the nickname for the United States squad in '96, Strug, born in Tucson, became a household name after her performance.
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With the United States trying to win its first team gold medal in gymnastics, Strug was front and center at the final event. With the U.S. leading by 0.897 of a point, Strug was the last to vault.
The lead looked safe and Strug's vault shouldn't have been so important, but teammate Dominique Moceanu had fallen twice, putting Strug in the spotlight.
On the first of her two vaults, Strug, like Moceanu, fell and damaged her ankle. With the score so close, Strug had to go again on a bum ankle.
That's when Strug went from "second fiddle" to legend.
The Green Fields Country Day School graduate landed her vault on both feet, despite a third-degree lateral sprain and tendon damage, and picked up a score of 9.712, guaranteeing USA the gold medal.
"When Dom fell the first time, I thought, 'No, I can't believe it. She never falls,' " Strug told the media later that night. "Then she fell a second time and it was like, 'Forget this. This is a nightmare.' My heart was beating like crazy, knowing that it was now up to me. I thought, 'This is it Kerri. You've done this vault a thousand times, so just go out and do it.' "
After the Olympics, Strug returned to Tucson and was welcomed by about 4,500 fans at Hi Corbett Field.
Hometown, age
Tucson, 33
She said it
"It just seems weird. To me, it was part of my job to do that vault. When they tell me I'm a hero, I can't really relate to that. It's just weird. I'm 19. … I think some people are intimidated by me. I don't know why. I'm so little, and I'm not very aggressive toward other people. It's definitely weird." - Strug, to the Star in 1996.
Daniel Berk
