US Olympic Gymnastics Team 2012: McKayla Maroney Will Be This Year's Kerri Strug

The 2012 U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics team is being referred to as the "Fabulous Five." They have been favorably compared to the 1996 "Magnificent Seven" team that featured Kerri Strug and her amazing vault on her injured ankle. 

Now, vault specialist McKayla Maroney will have a chance to emulate Strug's brave performance on an aggravated big toe, which was either bruised or broken, depending on which source you trust. 

According to the New York Times:

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"Martha Karolyi, the U.S. women’s national team coordinator, said Maroney wasn’t forced to compete with the injury and that it is always the gymnast’s decision whether to continue. She said Maroney was 'back to completely normal,' and that Maroney’s toe was just 'bruised,' 'strained,' but 'never broken.'"

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The claim that she's "back to completely normal" is just not true. Karolyi is holding Maroney back from competing in the floor exercise, according to the report, and relegating her to the vault.

This tells me that her toe is still presenting an issue. Maroney is a tough cookie, as all of these young women are. They are extreme competitors, and though Karolyi may not be forcing her to compete, she's not going to let her moment pass her by, no matter how much pain her injured toe is causing her. 

It will be interesting to see if Maroney is able to do the famous Amanar vault with her injured toe. She had been nailing the difficult maneuver better than anyone in the world, but it will be tough for her to get enough air and rotation on a busted toe.

I guarantee you the buildup to Maroney's vaults in the team competition will be intense. Not only will NBC hype it up, but Maroney will be super-focused on her task at hand. She was really only invited to be a part of this five-woman team due to her vaulting prowess in the first place, and she knows it.

According to NBCOlympics.com, Maroney said: "If I do my job I know I can get the gold medal. That’s what they picked me to be on the team for, so I need to be confident about that."

Don't be surprised to see her walking with a slight limp when the time comes for her to vault. Adrenaline will be coursing through her body, though, and combined with her determination and will, I'm sure she'll do her best to ignore the pain.

Let's just hope that Maroney can execute her vaults with the same precision that earned Strug and the "Magnificent Seven" their team gold medal back in 1996. Chances are the 2012 team will need her score just as badly as Strug's team did hers, and the scene will be thick with drama.

Stay tuned to Bleacher Report as we cover every aspect of every Olympic sport for the 2012 Summer Games in London. 

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