When I was a young boy ( I'm not that old no ;o) ) my father was my coach in cycling. He learned me how to live life and more specific how to battle each race again to win.

Crying was not an option. " Crying happens inside " he always said. It is was gives you the strength and the energy to get up and win. Crying on the outside makes you lose energy.

When you are 5 - 10 - 15 even 20 years old, you would yell the most ugly words to him but now when I'm in 30's I understand what he means.

This "crying" quote I found back in the trainer of Kerri Strug. His name is Béla Károlyi. He was a gymnastic coach born in Romania. Before he became a coach, he was active in boxing and hammer throwing. His wife was involved in gymnastics. They opened a gymnastic school and this is where the tree started to grow. After he moved to Usa, he managed to become the coach of the National Team.

His background in the hard dark life in Romania together with his focus on winning 'Gold' was a great match. People believed in him and he wouldn't do anything to hurt somebody is he was not sure it would not be ok. He was a hard coach with the love of a grandfather.

This is my story why for me this is the most memorable match for me in my history.

Enjoy reading:

Atlanta July 1996. The Olympic games started. For many top athletes this is the most important time of their career.

Same for coach Károlyi and his gymnastic team. On training the results were good and the nation called in the media for the first golden medal in women team gymnastics. What they didn't knew at that time was that it would be one the world would never forget...

The magnificent seven

Dominique Dawes, Kerri Strug, , Dominique Moceanu, Amanda Borden, Jaycie Phelps, Amy Chow, Shannon Miller. These ladies are carrying the hope on their young sholders to win the Golden medal.

Jaycie Phelps was the one who had to start. Set the tone, start the battle. Her routine as a warm up was to do 2 or 3 moves she had to do in the game. When they work out fine ( what always went perfect ) she has confidence and is ready to go. But nothing worked. She became disparate.

Captain Borden from the team took Phelps apart for a pep-talk. The words Borden shared to her were enough to give back the confidence to move on. Borden did something she never done before: She went with Phelps to the floor and stood the full session on the sidelines watching and coaching. Please image the ages of these young girls. What a women! Phelps made the performance of all time. All because of Borden.

That wonderful performance gave a vibe in the group. All sessions were fantastic.

After finishing the first rotation ( 4 rotations in women's gymnastics = vault, , balance beam, uneven bars and floor-exercise), the Usa pulled ahead of Russia, which had been dismantled at the end of the Olympics in 1992. More then 9/10th of a point. So one error they could afford.

As the night goes on ...

If Phelps' brilliant bar routine set a winning tone at the beginning of the night, it was Moceanu and Strug's vault performances that shifted everything. They had to do a performance which they didn't practice. It made them nervous and they failed. The mistake you can find in the movie below.

Dominique Moceanu fell on her first vault, landing on both feet but slipping after touching the floormat. She couldnot understand what just happened. They were untouchable, they thought.

Still she had a second chance. They highest score is what counts. She failed again. If you didn't knew, you would say you watch the same movie. Her she fell also. Image of his young girl must have felt. :(

Now Strug's time ...

Strug had a lot of pressure on her sholder. Not only they lost the first place, she had to catch up and win a high score. Gymnastics is an attack on the young bodies of those ladies. My wife did the same and something she is old on an age of 30 years old...

When Strug did her first vault, the score was ok. Not enough to win though. She walked back for her second chance when her teammates she was pomping her feed. The same ankle as in the beginning of the season. It was like her feet was just holding together with a very small tiny bone. Terrible view! Ohh men, what feelings goes trough the head of those parents.

Anyway, she hoped by walking the 10 meters, her feet would give a sign of life. The team was worried, not only for her foot but also for the results. Byebye Golden medal?

They knew they had at the start of the last round a small advantage against Russia. But what was the score now? Nobody knew.

"You can do it"

Those were the only words she received just for starting. It was enough. The winner in her didn't think about the pain but about the victory. She knew the coach would not allow her to spring if she could loose her foot. She made it, ran like crazy and a few seconds later she landed on 1 foot, touching the mat with the second but the pain she felt was like she got burned by fire. What a women!

She showed respect to the jury and felt down on her knees. The coach and the team had to carry her. THEY WON GOLD

One anecdote I want to share with her. When Strug was carried away, they needed to cut her shoes. She yelt no to do it, those were her favorite shoes. Imagine how strong this girl was

Thank you all for reading. #mostmemorablematch