But she also made key mistakes at the world championships and at Tuesday's team competition. Instead, it was Romania's Simona Amanar who finished first in the optionals.Ĭhina's Mo Huilan was the pre-Olympic favorite, mostly because of the degree of difficulty in her routines. Lilia Podkopayeva of Ukraine is the defending world champion, but her optionals point total during the team competition was only good for ninth overall. Moceanu's score would have guaranteed gold, unless Rozalia Galiyeva of second-place Russia recorded a 9.972 on the floor exercise.Įven without Strug, the all-around will not lack for drama. "It's not possible unless you're a human adding machine."Īs it turns out, Strug's second vault was unnecessary. "How can you be there pushing a calculator?" she said. Kerri Strug was far from the greatest ever American female gymnast, but she may be the best remembered for one vault she did at the 1996 Olympics. In the 1995 World Championships, Scanlan said Strug decided to skip a second vault in the individual competition because it was too risky.Īs for the suggestion that USA coaches should have been aware of the scoring situation, Scanlan said the situation was too fluid for an exact picture of the medal status. "It's her decision to make that vault."Īccording to Scanlan, Strug has declined to compete when not comfortable with an event or skill. In a moment that has since gone down in history, Karolyi picked Strug up and carried her to the podium. "All I'm saying is that Kerri is an experienced athlete, and it's her call, just like any athlete," Scanlan said. Strug scored 9.712 on the vault, despite being badly hurt.
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