Magnificent 7 Documentary: Anything To Win (part 1)

A documentary about the 1996 US Olympic gymnastics team that won the nation's first-ever team gold medal at the Atlanta Games. The team members, Amanda Borden, Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Jaycie Phelps, and Kerri Strug, are better known as the Magnificent 7 and hold a place in gymnastics history.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• magnificent
• seven
• amanda
• borden
• amy
• chow
• dominique
• dawes
• shannon
• miller
• moceanu
• jaycie
• phelps
• kerri
• strug
• gymnastics

[Swankdor]

i dun understand why do gymnastics team need a captain..? its basically u performing ur own routine.. unlike soccer where there is some sort of coordination involved among players..

[doublelayout10]

The team captain's role is more of a supportive one, rather than based on individual performances. Whoever is selected is usually one of the older, more experienced girls on the team, so she has been in high-pressure situations before and can help the younger ones through it. Alicia Sacramone was the captain of the 2008 team, as she had been through the 2004 selection process, been at every Worlds that quad, etc., versus someone like Shawn Johnson, who had "only" been to one World Championships.

[ginoseast123]

@doublelayout10 seniority is not always the case when choosing a captain...Amanda Borden was chosen the captain of the 1996 team and Dominique Dawes, shannon miller and kerry strug all had so much more international and national experience than amanda did

[doublelayout10]

@ginoseast123 You're right, it's not always the case. More often than not, however, the team captain is someone who has "been there before." Amanda competed in 3 World Championships, so she definitely knew what international competitions were all about. While MIller, Dawes and Strug had more SUCCESS than Borden, they also had more pressure to perform well individually in Atlanta. I'd say Amanda was chosen because of her experience and support, but also because her main focus was the team.

[chairmanmao89]

who is that girl @ 0:10?

[doublelayout10]

Nadia Comaneci

[Trampoliningx]

Thanks soooooo much for posting!! :D

[Mikizzle15]

@lostalex77 I wasn't criticizing. You missed the whole point. I was being funny. Because alot of people tend to lose their accents or soften their accents over time after being in another country for so long and he hasn't.

[tatulover2120]

8:02 is bela kissing mary lou?

[lostalex77]

@Mikizzle15 Because he spends his time coaching gymnastics, not trying to be an actor with a voice coach, that;s why.

[lostalex77]

@SexyLiLLeilaniMya Really? well maybe you should watch this last nationals,  the USA won by a LANDSLIDE.

[lostalex77]

@emmyjo720 Your an idiot., you shouldn't talk, it's embarassing for you.

[scauma]

i remember watching this as a 14yr old boy amazed at how good they were.

[zeldafreak701]

@TribalFaerie Actually that was Olga Korbut. But you're right about the other stuff.

[TribalFaerie]

@zeldafreak701 Probably because she is such an icon. She took the sport to a whole new level and practically gave gymnastics value in the Olympics. She is credible in the sense that she knows what it takes to handle the competitions, the training...the fame. All that.... She was the first real gymnastics super star.

[IsMaithLiomEmma]

@randomsmilezzz there was a lot of conflict with her parents, accusations that her father squandered her money among other things, and she filed for legal emancipation.

[chrissyjoy08]

@doublelayout10 I just saw an interview the other day (maybe it was even in this documentary! I don't recall!) where Amanda was saying that the other girls voted her to be the captain and she was amazed and shocked and honored. All seven of them put the name of the person they wanted to be captain in a hat or something, and she chose someone else, but all six of the others chose her.

[briannaandjaclyn]

thanks for uploading!!

[aquaholic1004]

Bella was my coach for five years:)

[msms68]

they make bella seem like a scary person..but i bet he isnt

[zeldafreak701]

I don't understand why they're interviewing Nadia instead of Mary Lou Retton considering it's about the AMERICAN team. She's not as relevant to this story as Retton.

[randomsmilezzz]

y is moceanu in court?

[tmwalkerm]

@Elemarth Thanks, I always wondered how they got involved if they weren't former athletes, appreciate the response :).

[Elemarth]

@tmwalkerm Marta was, I think, but Bela was absolutely terrible at it. They were sports teachers who just got more interested in gymnastics than any other sport. They thought it was the best one for the kids who lived in their area, and then it took off.

[37tonya]

@svetaswan I couldn't have put it better. I totally agree with you. Amanda was the best as captain.

[bamabelle327]

@diamepiece I had two different posters of Moceanu.. and a biography about her. lol.. I was lucky enough to be at the Atlanta games (8 years old!) when they took the gold. I still talk about it! (Obviously!) They were my heroes for the longest time!

[MelleAndKev]

I hate to be a buzzkill but MLR would not be an Olympic champion if the 1984 games were a fully attended Olympics... I probably would have given it to Szabo over her anyway. The real gymnastics competition that year took place in Olomouc.

[danasuperstar]

Did Shannon get two nose jobs plus veneers? She looks like a different person.

[tmwalkerm]

I was always curious - did Bela and/or Marta have a gymnastics background themselves? Were they former gymnasts?

[tmwalkerm]

@lindseylee77 it was for health reasons, but yeah you can't even recognize her now.