1996 Women’s Gymnastics Team
Led by Kerri Strug and Shannon Miller, the Magnificent Seven became the first U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team to win the team all-around gold medal in the Olympic Games.
Since the beginning of the Olympic and Paralympic movements, women have played a significant role, pushing the envelope of competitive excellence and equality on and off the field. Be sure to read these inspiring stories of the women of Team USA who are featured in the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum.
Led by Kerri Strug and Shannon Miller, the Magnificent Seven became the first U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team to win the team all-around gold medal in the Olympic Games.
Women’s soccer was added to the Olympic Games for the first time ever and while it was only an eight-team competition, it was a rousing success capped by the U.S. 2-1 victory over China in the gold-medal game.
She teamed with Jessie Diggins to win a dramatic gold medal in the sprint relay, the first U.S. cross-country skiers to win Olympic gold.
It took the curiosity of University of Florida professor Paula Welch to realize that Margaret Abbott was the United States’ first female Olympic champion.
She was just 16 years old when she won Olympic gold in the 100 meters; eight years later, after surviving a plane crash, Robinson won Olympic relay gold.
Speedskater Bonnie Blair was well known for her throng of family and friends and she gave them plenty to cheer about, winning five gold medals and one bronze over four Olympic Winter Games.
Candace Cable did not like competition or confrontation as a youngster; she eventually became a nine-time Paralympian and 12-time Paralympic medalist
She took up track as an offseason complement to basketball and attended a college that had never sent a runner to the U.S. Olympic Trials.
The U.S. sent just one man to the inaugural Paralympic Winter Games in 1976; four years later, Castellano won two skiing gold medals.
The daughter of a Hollywood manager, she learned the sport from an Austrian director who taught it to actors and actresses.
“Queen” Helene Madison was one of the first American female swimming stars, winning two individual gold medals and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay gold at the Los Angeles 1932 Olympic Games.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee won six Olympic medals (three gold) and was named the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated.
Joan Benoit had knee surgery 17 days before the 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials, but finished first at the Trials and won gold in the first-ever Olympic women’s marathon at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games.
Kristi Yamaguchi won the ladies’ singles figure skating gold medal at the Albertville 1992 Olympic Winter Games.
Mary Lou Retton scored perfect 10s on the floor exercise and vault to win the individual all-around gold medal at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games.
Micki King hit her arm on the board on her ninth dive of the 3-meter springboard at the Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games and finished fourth. She won gold at the Munich 1972 Olympic Games.
She won the U.S. senior ladies championship at age 14 and competed in her first Olympics two years later.
One of the greatest coaches in college basketball history, she guided the U.S. women’s basketball team to its first Olympic gold medal.
She led the University of Connecticut to the 1995 national championship, won Olympic gold at Atlanta 1996, played in the WNBA and became a television analyst.
With three gold medals, one silver and two bronze, she is the only athlete to win Olympic medals in all three shooting disciplines.
She competed in three Paralympic Games and won seven medals in a variety of distances.
Blind since birth, she competed in seven Paralympic Games and won an astounding 41 gold medals.
Tenley Albright contracted polio at age 11 and doctors wondered whether she would walk again. Six years later, she won an Olympic silver medal in figure skating and would win gold four years after that.
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