Kerri Strug was born  November 19, 1977 in Tucson, Arizona to Burt and Melanie Strug. Kerri’s sister, Lisa, also competed in gymnastics, which pushed Kerri to work even harder. She was taught by American coach Jim Gault all the way up to 1991. Her first appearance in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain at age 14 made her the youngest  competitor that year.  Kerri did not allow her young age to hinder her success and won a bronze team medal. She continued to strive for perfection and participated in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She fell during the vault event, injuring her ankle. However she  managed to stick the landing on her second vault before collapsing in pain, helping to secure gold for the American team. This captured the attention of millions of Americans, and put her on the headlines of newspapers around the world.  She announced her retirement from gymnastics and enrolled at UCLA, where she served as the gymnastics team manager. Later on, she transferred to Stanford College, where she earned her masters degree in sociology.  Kerri currently resides in Tucson, Arizona with her husband Robert Fischer and son Tyler Fischer.

 

 

 

 

Accomplishments:

• Olympic Games:

  • Gold 1996 Atlanta Team

  • Bronze 1992 Barcelona Team

• World Championships:

  • Silver 1991 Indianapolis Team

  • Silver 1994 Dortmund Team

  • Bronze 1995 Sabae Team