00:00She had two more attempts left to bring home a gold medal for the U.S.
00:04But as she landed her first attempt,
00:06she heard a pop and a sharp pain shot through her ankle.
00:10Kerry Strug didn't know it at that point,
00:12but she had just torn two ligaments in her ankle.
00:15Her coach, Bella Caroli, was notorious for pushing his athletes to,
00:19and often beyond, their limits,
00:21and he encouraged her to keep going.
00:24The women's gymnastics team event was an event typically dominated by the USSR,
00:28and the U.S. team had never won a gold medal in the event
00:31throughout the history of the Olympics.
00:33So after 14-year-old Dominique Mochianu fell on both of her vaults,
00:37all lies were on Kerry to bring home the gold.
00:40But after injuring herself on her first attempt,
00:42it seemed unlikely that she would be able to pull it off.
00:45In Kerry's past performances,
00:46she'd been described by the media as the girl who had a lot of talent,
00:50but just couldn't put it together when it really mattered,
00:53and they questioned whether she even had the mental toughness
00:55needed to bring home an Olympic gold medal.
00:57Kerry struck. It is up to her.
00:59She's the last to go. She's the only one who can do it.
01:02Kerry was about to risk a potentially career-ending injury
01:06just to make Bella and her country proud.
01:09But what Kerry, Bella, and the crowd watching didn't know
01:12was that Kerry didn't need to vault again.
01:16See, in the all-around team event,
01:17the top five scores on each exercise are added together
01:20to make up the team's total.
01:22The U.S. team was on the vault exercise last,
01:24and the Russian team was performing the floor exercise at the same time.
01:28However, Russia's scores hadn't been posted yet,
01:31so Bella and Kerry still weren't certain what their final total would be,
01:35or whether they even needed another vault to win.
01:38To make the decision even harder,
01:40Kerry had her individual events scheduled in two days' time.
01:43If she pushed herself too hard here,
01:45there would be no chance of her winning an individual gold medal.
01:48But with Bella's voice echoing in her ear
01:52and her doubters just waiting for another example
01:55to show that she wasn't tough enough,
01:56Kerry made her decision.
01:58Whether the U.S. team needed the extra points or not,
02:01she was going to attempt to decisively secure the team's victory
02:04and show America what she was truly made of.
02:07She rocketed towards the vault,
02:09each step tearing at her weakened ankle.
02:12And as she tumbled onto the vault...
02:16She has done it!
02:17Kerry Strzok has won the gold medal for the United States team!
02:20Kerry collapsed in agony.
02:22Probably the last thing she should have done was vault again,
02:25but she did, and now she is in a lot of pain.
02:28The medics bandaged her ankle
02:29and tried to rush Kerry off to the hospital to have her injury checked,
02:33but Bella pushed them away.
02:35He swooped her up and he carried her out to the podium.
02:37It was a lot for Kerry to take in.
02:39As the adrenaline of the moment started to wear off,
02:42the pain in her ankle shuddered through her leg.
02:44And she knew she had destroyed her chances of performing in her individual events.
02:49But in doing so, she became much more than a gold medalist.
02:53She became a symbol.
02:54The doctors say she's going to be okay.
02:56Tomorrow, Kerry Strzok will be on the cover of every newspaper in the world.
03:01Her story an inspiration to every youngster,
03:03to every adult who has ever had a dream
03:05to do something incredible.
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