Kerri Strug became famous in the summer of 1996 at the Atlanta Olympic games, after winning a gold medal in gymnastics.

To a younger generation who sees her now, she is famous for being on YouTube, where they watch her iconic second vault at the Olympics, with a sprained ankle.

Speaking to the Northwest Aerials gymnastics club on Tuesday, Jan. 24, Strug admitted most in the room probably weren’t even born when she earned her medal.

“It feels good to have had a lasting effect on the sport,” she said of her warm reception, despite the crowds young age. “Technology has really assisted me with that.”

Strug, in town to promote the Pacific Rim gymnastics competition which will be held in Everett in March, also presented at the Sports Star of the Year event held in Seattle on Wednesday night.

Her main message to the children in the audience — find something you love and go for it.

“I think it’s really important to find something you have a passion for, whether it’s playing a musical instrument or another sport and enjoy it. Set some kind of achievement and work really hard to obtain it,” she said. “That’s the message I like to tell them.”

Strug, who retired from the sport not long after the ’96 Olympics, said while she doesn’t spend much time in the gym anymore — especially now that’s she’s expecting her first child — she likes to talk to people about it.

“I’m here to get all of you excited about the Pacific Rim championships,” she told the crowd. “It’s a pretty awesome event because it’s an Olympic year and a lot of them will be there. Who knows what is going to happen.”

Strug told the group, largely younger gymnasts eagerly listening to the Olympian, that even though not everybody will go to the Olympics, everyone can participate and get the benefits of gymnastics.

“Those that work hard are the one who get the benefits,” she told them. “Until I went through the process it really didn’t mean much to me.”

When a little boy asked what was going through her mind during that famous second vault, she answered, not much.

“Really I was on auto pilot,” she said. She explained that after so much training and going over everything in her head millions of times, she simply visualized and went.

“I visualized the vault in my head, so not too much was going on,” said Strug. “I learned I shouldn’t over think things and it took a really long time to get there.”

Even though she hasn’t been a competitive gymnast for years, Strug said it was extremely hard to give up the gym.

“It really was,” she said when someone asked if it was hard for her to retire. “It was such a big part of my life. Once I obtained my goal I was like ‘whoa now what?’. I had to reassess. Life is all about change, whether you want it or not, but most of you are so young, you have a long life of gymnastics ahead of you.”