Magnificent Seven (Gymnastics)
Encyclopedia
The Magnificent Seven is the name given to the 1996 United States
Olympic Women's Gymnastics
Team that won the first ever Gold Medal for the United States in the Women's Team Competition at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The seven members of the team were Shannon Miller
, Dominique Moceanu
, Dominique Dawes
, Kerri Strug, Amy Chow
, Amanda Borden
and Jaycie Phelps
.
had won the event in every Olympics it had entered since the 1950s. Furthermore, the United States had never won the event in the Olympics - or the World Championships. Yet, in Atlanta, they fielded the deepest U.S. team in history and upstaged both the Russians and the Romania
ns, then reigning as World Champions for the second time.
However, Kerri Strug qualified for the All-Around over Moceanu when Moceanu fell on both of her vaults
as the second to last gymnast to perform. Moments later, Strug fell on her first vault, injuring her ankle, and in the most enduring moment of the Games, she vaulted again, "stuck the landing" on one leg, collapsed, and had to be carried off the podium. The vault assured Kerri a place in the All-Around, but she was unable to compete due to the injury.
The other three members on the team were less heralded. Nevertheless, they were an integral part of the team's success. Amy Chow had the highest difficulty of anyone on the team, most notably on the uneven bars. Jaycie Phelps provided clean lines and solid gymnastics on all four events. The final member to qualify for the team, Amanda Borden, was named Team Captain due to her vivacious personality.
The highest two scoring athletes on the team during the compulsories did not even perform at Olympic Trials. Both Miller and Moceanu had been sidelined with injuries, but were named to the team anyway, proving that the petition-system was in the team's best interest.
took the title and the gold, while the three Romanians took revenge for their disappointing team bronze by sweeping the other medals (Gina Gogean
won silver, and Simona Amânar
and Lavinia Miloşovici
tied for bronze).
of China finished second (9.768) and Gina Gogean of Romania third (9.750).
finished first (9.850) and Dominique Dawes finished fourth (9.800).
This was the only individual gold for the United States at the 1996 Olympics and only the third ever individual Olympic gold for U.S. women's gymnastics-- the first in a non-boycotted Olympics. (Mary Lou Retton
won all-around gold in 1984 and Julianne McNamara
won gold on uneven bars in 1984). Since then, three American women gymnasts have won individual Olympic gold medals - Carly Patterson
(all-around in 2004), Nastia Liukin
(all-around in 2008) and Shawn Johnson
(balance beam in 2008).
and presentation, but her tumbling was not as difficult as the three medallists.
The entire team appeared on a Wheaties
cereal box and on several talk shows. Miller, once again the most successful member of the team following her 5 medal total in the Barcelona Games, captured the only individual gold for the American women. Her gold medal on the balance beam was a first for an American, followed only by Shawn Johnson
at the 2008 games.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Olympic Women's Gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
Team that won the first ever Gold Medal for the United States in the Women's Team Competition at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The seven members of the team were Shannon Miller
Shannon Miller
Shannon Lee Miller is a former artistic gymnast from Edmond, Oklahoma. She is the most decorated gymnast in U.S. History, and considered one of the greatest gymnasts the United States has ever produced...
, Dominique Moceanu
Dominique Moceanu
Dominique "Domi" Helena Moceanu is an American gymnast who was a member of the Olympic Gold medal winning 1996 U.S...
, Dominique Dawes
Dominique Dawes
Dominique Margaux Dawes is a retired United States artistic gymnast. She was 10-year member of the U.S. national gymnastics team, the 1994 U.S. all-around senior National Champion, a three-time Olympian, a World Championships silver medalist and a member of the gold-medal winning "Magnificent...
, Kerri Strug, Amy Chow
Amy Chow
Amy Yuen Yee Chow is a retired American gymnast and a member of the famous Magnificent 7, the first American team to win Olympic gymnastics gold...
, Amanda Borden
Amanda Borden
Amanda Kathleen Borden is a retired American gymnast, who was one of the members of the gold medalist United States team in the 1996 Summer Olympics, the Magnificent 7. Borden was the team captain of the Magnificent Seven, with all six other members submitting her name in the vote, including the...
and Jaycie Phelps
Jaycie Phelps
Jaycie Lynn Phelps is a United States Olympic gymnast and member of the 1996 Olympic Gold medal U.S. women's gymnastics team, Magnificent 7.-External links:*...
.
1996 Olympics
The accomplishment was considered phenomenal because the by then defunct Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
had won the event in every Olympics it had entered since the 1950s. Furthermore, the United States had never won the event in the Olympics - or the World Championships. Yet, in Atlanta, they fielded the deepest U.S. team in history and upstaged both the Russians and the Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
ns, then reigning as World Champions for the second time.
Individual stars
The leader of the Magnificent 7 is often said to be Shannon Miller, the most decorated American gymnast in history. The other two individual stars on the team were Dominique Dawes and Dominique Moceanu.However, Kerri Strug qualified for the All-Around over Moceanu when Moceanu fell on both of her vaults
Vault (gymnastics)
The vault is an artistic gymnastics apparatus, as well as the skill performed using that apparatus. Vaulting is also the action of performing a vault. Both male and female gymnasts perform the vault...
as the second to last gymnast to perform. Moments later, Strug fell on her first vault, injuring her ankle, and in the most enduring moment of the Games, she vaulted again, "stuck the landing" on one leg, collapsed, and had to be carried off the podium. The vault assured Kerri a place in the All-Around, but she was unable to compete due to the injury.
The other three members on the team were less heralded. Nevertheless, they were an integral part of the team's success. Amy Chow had the highest difficulty of anyone on the team, most notably on the uneven bars. Jaycie Phelps provided clean lines and solid gymnastics on all four events. The final member to qualify for the team, Amanda Borden, was named Team Captain due to her vivacious personality.
The highest two scoring athletes on the team during the compulsories did not even perform at Olympic Trials. Both Miller and Moceanu had been sidelined with injuries, but were named to the team anyway, proving that the petition-system was in the team's best interest.
All-Around finals
In the All-Around finals, Dominique Moceanu had a big balance check after her punch front on the balance beam which ultimately knocked her out of contention when she only scored a 9.600. Despite the low score she still managed to finish 9th in the all-around. In stark contrast, Dominique Dawes and Shannon Miller both started out on the uneven bars, and after the first two rotations (uneven bars and balance beam) they were in 1st and 2nd place respectively. The excitement however, proved to be short lived. Miller came up short on her first tumbling pass on floor (a double layout), and stepped out of bounds on her last tumbling pass on floor (a full twisting double back). A score of 9.475 dashed any dreams of a medal for her. Next up was Dawes, and while doing a punch front on floor she fell out of bounds. She scored a 9.000 and just like that team USA was completely out of the all-around contention. Miller ended up placing 8th, while Dawes placed 17th. World champion Lilia PodkopayevaLilia Podkopayeva
Lilia Alexandrivna Podkopayeva ; born August 15, 1978 in Donetsk) is a retired Ukrainian gymnast who became the 1996 Olympic all-around champion, the 1995 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships all-around champion and the 1996 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships all-around champion...
took the title and the gold, while the three Romanians took revenge for their disappointing team bronze by sweeping the other medals (Gina Gogean
Gina Gogean
Gina Gogean is a retired gymnast from Romania who competed internationally in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. During her career she won an impressive number of 30 medals at Olympic Games, world championships or continental championships...
won silver, and Simona Amânar
Simona Amânar
Simona Amânar is a Romanian gymnast. She is a seven-time Olympic medalist and a ten-time world medalist. Amânar helped Romania to win four consecutive world team titles as well as the 2000 Olympic team title. She has a vault named after her, the Amanar...
and Lavinia Miloşovici
Lavinia Milosovici
Lavinia Corina Miloşovici is a Romanian Olympic gymnast. An exceptionally successful athlete on the international competition circuit, Miloşovici, also known as "Milo" in the gymnastics community, is considered to be one of Romania's top gymnasts of the 1990s and one of the most prolific female...
tied for bronze).
Vault finals
During event finals team USA did considerably better. On day one of event finals on vault both Shannon Miller (subbing for an injured Kerri Strug) and Dominique Dawes competed. Neither were flawless, with Miller falling on her second vault, and they finished 6th (Dawes) and 8th (Miller). Simona Amânar of Romania won with a 9.825 average, while Mo HuilanMo Huilan
Mo Huilan is a Chinese gymnast who competed at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She was one of China's most successful gymnasts in the 1990s. She is known for performing routines of exceptional difficulty and technique, but also for inconsistency....
of China finished second (9.768) and Gina Gogean of Romania third (9.750).
Uneven bars
On the next event, uneven bars, both Amy Chow and Dominique Dawes competed. Amy Chow had a great routine to score a 9.837 which tied Bi Weijing for second. Svetlana KhorkinaSvetlana Khorkina
Svetlana Vasilyevna Khorkina is a popular Russian gymnast and seven-time Olympic medalist, who is now a deputy at the Russian State Duma. With an unprecedented nine gold, eight silver, and three bronze World Championships medals, she is one of the most successful female gymnasts of her era and has...
finished first (9.850) and Dominique Dawes finished fourth (9.800).
Balance beam event finals
On the balance beam event finals was where the USA crowd saw the most drama. Dominique Moceanu and Shannon Miller were both competing, and they were both supposed to challenge for gold. Moceanu, however, had a very scary fall. During her flight series of a back handspring followed by three layouts, she missed her foot on the second layout but still flipped over and smashed her head into the beam. Somehow she was able to grab onto the beam with both hands, but the damage had already been done with a score of 9.125 and 6th place. Miller, however, did well to score a 9.862 and win the beam title.This was the only individual gold for the United States at the 1996 Olympics and only the third ever individual Olympic gold for U.S. women's gymnastics-- the first in a non-boycotted Olympics. (Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton is an American gymnast and Olympic gold medalist. She was the first female gymnast from outside Eastern Europe to win the Olympic all-around title, after 14 Eastern Bloc countries boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.-Personal life:Retton was born in Fairmont, West...
won all-around gold in 1984 and Julianne McNamara
Julianne McNamara
Julianne Lyn McNamara was an American artistic gymnast, who was born to Australian parents. She was the winner of the U.S. women's first individual event gold medal in Olympic history....
won gold on uneven bars in 1984). Since then, three American women gymnasts have won individual Olympic gold medals - Carly Patterson
Carly Patterson
Carly Rae Patterson is an American singer and former gymnast. She is the 2004 Olympic All-Around Champion and a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame...
(all-around in 2004), Nastia Liukin
Nastia Liukin
Anastasia Valeryevna "Nastia" Liukin is a Russian-American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic individual all-around Champion, the 2005 and 2007 World Champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 World Champion on the uneven bars...
(all-around in 2008) and Shawn Johnson
Shawn Johnson
Shawn Machel Johnson is an American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic balance beam gold medalist and all-around, and floor exercise silver medalist, the 2007 all-around World Champion, and the 2007 and 2008 U.S. all-around champion...
(balance beam in 2008).
Floor final
During the floor final Dominique Moceanu and Dominique Dawes both competed. They both had great routines, however Dawes was just a little better for a 9.837 and 3rd place, while Moceanu received a 9.825 and 4th place. The crowd loved Moceanu's cute choreographyChoreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
and presentation, but her tumbling was not as difficult as the three medallists.
Post Olympics
The Magnificent Seven went on tour after their gold medal performance. Strug, however, elected not to join the other six members, due to her injuries sustained from the Olympics.The entire team appeared on a Wheaties
Wheaties
Wheaties is a brand of General Mills breakfast cereal. It is well known for featuring prominent athletes on the exterior of the package, and has become a major cultural icon...
cereal box and on several talk shows. Miller, once again the most successful member of the team following her 5 medal total in the Barcelona Games, captured the only individual gold for the American women. Her gold medal on the balance beam was a first for an American, followed only by Shawn Johnson
Shawn Johnson
Shawn Machel Johnson is an American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic balance beam gold medalist and all-around, and floor exercise silver medalist, the 2007 all-around World Champion, and the 2007 and 2008 U.S. all-around champion...
at the 2008 games.
See also
- Women's gymnastics events at the 1996 Summer Olympics