Las Vegan Schwikert, U.S. teammates finally get Olympic medals

Ten years later, America's gymnasts from the Sydney Olympics received their bronze medals.

At a ceremony Wednesday in Hartford, Conn., the U.S. women's team was awarded the third-place medals that were stripped from China because a member of that team was found to be underage.

Among the new bronze medalists is Las Vegas native Tasha Schwikert, who followed her appearance in the 2000 Sydney Games by winning back-to-back U.S. national all-around titles.

Also getting long-overdue medals were Amy Chow, Jamie Dantzscher, Dominique Dawes, Kristin Maloney and Elise Ray. The team combined to finish fourth in Sydney but was bumped up after an investigation into a Chinese gymnast's age.

They learned of the International Olympic Committee's decision to give them the medals in April. And even though the ceremony came 10 years late, Schwikert said it was still memorable.

"Tonight, when they put the medals around our necks, it was super emotional. It was water works from everyone," Schwikert told the Review-Journal. "Basically, we were here to be honored, and to right a wrong. The IOC did that, and it's definitely closure for that chapter of my life."

The team will appear this morning on the "Today" show, which begins at 7 a.m. on NBC (3). Schwikert said it was expected the squad would be on in the 8 a.m. or 8:30 a.m. block.