The 2016 Rio Olympics kick off on Friday, August 5, and the anticipation for the summer games is high. This year’s U.S. women’s team includes familiar faces like Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman, as well as newcomers like Laurie Hernandez, Simone Biles and Madison Kocian. The women’s gymnastics team final will kick off on Tuesday, August 9, at 3 p.m. EST.
Check out Us Weekly’s picks of the top eight moments in U.S. women’s gymnastics history in the video above!
In 1984, Mary Lou Retton became the first female gymnast outside of Eastern Europe to win the Olympic all-around title at the Los Angeles Olympics. The West Virginia native also took home four additional medals that year, including the silver in the team competition and in the horse vault, as well as the bronze in the floor exercise and in the uneven bars.
Twelve years later, in 1996, Kerri Strug showed what champions are made of when she competed in the Atlanta Olympics and persevered through an ankle injury on the vault, winning the competition and guaranteeing the Americans the gold medal in the all-around competition.
Fast-forward to 2008, when Shawn Johnson won the gold medal on the balance beam and earned silver for all-around and floor exercise at the Beijing games. (The spunky athlete would later go on to compete — and win — season 8 of Dancing With the Stars with partner Mark Ballas in 2009.)
Most recently, Gabby Douglas competed in the 2012 London Olympics and became the first African American to win the individual and team all-around gold medal.
Watch the video above to see which other athletes made the cut!
