A brain injury cut short Briana Scurry's soccer career. It didn't end her story

Briana Scurry blocks a penalty shootout during overtime of the Women's World Cup Final against China at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., July 10, 1999. The U.S. team won 5-4 on penalties. (Eric Risberg/AP)

Soccer star Briana Scurry still remembers the day she knew she wanted to be an Olympian: It was 1980, and Scurry, then 8 years old, watched on TV as the underdog men's U.S. Olympic ice hockey team beat Team USSR in Lake Placid, NY.

"I was so inspired, I rose up from the couch and declared to my parents that I wanted to be an Olympian," Scurry says. "They, thankfully, were nurturing of that little inspiration and helped me hone my skills in all different sports through high school."