‘Magnificent Seven’ Gymnastics Team Recalls Olympic Glory 20 Years Later | TODAY

first with just 24 days to go now until this year's Olympics here is today's fun fact ready Rio will be the first to feature Olympians born in the year 2000 Wow Team USA gymnast Lauri Hernandez and table tennis player Kanak JA just turned 16 last month and Sydney McLaughlin is also 16 will be the youngest track and field star to compete in 40 years let's hear it for Millennials yeah we love that but now to that reunion we mentioned Natalie has that force Natalie good morning to you hey good morning guys well there are Olympic moments forever etched in our memories from The Miracle on Ice to Michael Phelps winning eight gold medals in Beijing to the Magnificent Seven gymnastics team twenty years ago it was a heart-stopping competition razor tight between the US and Russia in the end the Americans captured all-around gold assuring their place in history the year 1996 the sport gymnastics the athletes Amanda Borden Amy Chow this was gigantic gymnastics Dominique Dawes it does me shannon miller Dominique Moceanu 14 jaesi felt and Kerri Strug making history and becoming forever known as the Magnificent Seven so what's it like for all of you being back together it's surreal you know 20 years later it's good just to see that everyone's happy everyone's healthy everyone is married either starting families or have families of their own Shannen going back to your career the most decorated US Olympic gymnast of all time does it seem like that was so long ago it's in some ways it feels like yesterday you close your eyes and you can smell the sweat and the chalk of the arena but in other ways it does it seems like a lifetime ago carry you all made history together the first u.s. gymnastics team to ever get a team gold medal what does that accomplishment mean to you still today I think that gold medal really changed the trajectory of all of our lives Amanda you were the captain of this squad the leader when it came to choosing the team captain everybody put the names in the Hat you chose Shanon that's not good but everybody else chose you yeah I knew I wasn't the best athlete but I was honored that they felt like I could be a great leader to the team Dominique I look at the video of you back then and you were just teeny teeny tiny oh my goodness even at 14 I knew when we walked into that Georgia Dome with 33,000 people cheering for only USA that we were part of something magnificent and truly a big part of history you know whenever I speak about this team I do say out of all my three Olympic team this was the one team that put their egos aside and this was the one team that should have had the biggest egos ever everybody have 55 medals I mean where do you keep all those medals when my kids aren't wearing those we're out a lot from time to time but the funny thing is my son will take the gold and hand me the silver okay they've learned that much Shannon you've been through a lot health-wise and with ovarian cancer how are you doing now I'm doing great we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 96 Olympic team but I just celebrated five years cancer-free so I'm very blessed very fortunate kind of really puts everything in perspective and then carry it fell on you you know that you had the blast bolts tell me about the pressure of that moment that vault signifies a lot more than people understand because finally when all eyes were on me I dealt with the pressure and now how I view myself and what I'm capable of is very different because of that vault and JC I mean to think about how much your life has changed you know from that moment from standing up on that podium with the gold medal around your neck can you reflect on that you know that moment led us into who we are today and we learned how to work hard how to manage our time just being disciplined I'm very grateful that I was able to be a part of it Amy speaking of legacies you have two moves that still young girls do today the child tell me what does that mean to you this is really cool I mean we my coach and I weren't aiming to do that at any point it just kind of happened and it really is an honor Amy Chow's gymnastics could still hang on this week code in fact I'd like to find out you in what she would score I said we need to quickly turn off we need you for bars this year you went in as Olympic gymnasts in 96 you came out as Olympic heroes I am so proud to have this team to have been role models for for the next generation to be able to leave a legacy where people think back to their team and they smile once an Olympian always an Olympian it's absolutely you know and from that moment the girls all reflect and say their lives really they've gone so much further because of that moment than they ever expected but I think we can all remember where we were when we saw them compete and it really - this day little girls go up to them they recognize them and they honor their accomplishments guys yeah hello today fans thanks for checking out our YouTube channel subscribe by clicking that button down there and click on any of the videos over here to watch the latest interviews show highlights and digital exclusives

Channel: TODAY

Views: 1,041,559

Keywords: Today Show, Today, Show, Todayshow, NBC, Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, morning show, entertainment news, news, Al Roker, Natalie Morales, interview, Carson Daly, Willie Geist, Tamron Hall, Today show recipes, Today Show concert series, Kathie Lee and, Magnificent Seven, Magnificent 7, Gymnastics, Women's Gymnastics, USA Gymnastics, Shannon Miller, Kerri Strug, Dominique Dawes, Amy Chow, Amanda Borden, aycie Phelps, Dominique Moceanu

Id: X_uDt5nd1JE

Length: 6min 2sec (362 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 12 2016