Update: Jul. 17, 2006

Her coach said she was "just a little girl," but on July 23, 1996, at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, 4-ft. 9-in. gymnast Kerri Strug became a big hero. Despite a sprained ankle, she launched into one last vault and stuck her landing to win the U.S. women's gymnastics squad its first-ever team Olympic gold. A decade later, Strug, 28, thinks of that day "constantly," she says. "Atlanta changed my life." A Stanford grad, she works at the Justice Department in Washington, helping get federal funding for youth-oriented groups like Boys & Girls Clubs. She's still in touch with some of...

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