April 28, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. The Atlanta Olympics.

The Olympic Channel has been showing snippets of past Olympics. Today when I was eating lunch, I watched the gymnastic competition at the Atlanta Olympics. This one we all watched and enjoyed all those years ago. For the first time ever, the American women won the overall team gold medal. I loved watching the competition all those years ago but I liked it even better today because I knew who was going to win. The Russians were expected to win the team competition. But the Americans came on strong. Going into the last round, the two teams were only separated by one point. The Russians were performing in floor exercises while the Americans were on vault, which was their strongest event. The commentators both thought the Americans would definitely win because their history on vault was better than the Russians on floor exercises. But things got tense. Two American women sat down at the end of their vault. The Russians were flawless on floor. The last American vaulter was Keri Shrugg. She was the strongest and best American vaulter. But on her first vault she hurt her ankle and sat down at the end of her vault. The rule is that an athlete can perform two vaults with the highest score counting. Now Kari, with a bad ankle had to score a high number in order for the Americans to win the gold. I remember well the tension. Her coach was exhorting her "Keri, you can do it". And she did. The Atlanta crowd went nuts. Keri executed an excellent vault and stuck the landing. Immediately she fell to her knees. But her score was high enough to win the gold for the American women. It was all very exciting at the time and a great pleasure watching while I ate lunch today. What we did not know at the time is that the American women gymnastic team has become a powerhouse and have won several team gold medals. Meanwhile the Russians were in tears. They expected to win. But ever since that date, they no longer expect that result. They are trying to keep up with the powerful American women. It was great fun watching especially because I had no anxiety. I knew the Americans had won.