Olympic gold medalist Shannon Miller addresses women's health fair dinner

Former Olympic gold medal gymnast Shannon Miller spoke to nearly 300 women at the Vista Health System dinner about the dedication and effort it took to compete in gymnastics at the Olympic level.

Miller said she didn't have the strength of a Mary Lou Retton or the natural talent of a Nadia Comaneci, but through hard work and repetition was able to achieve the short-term goals that she set every day and the long-term goal of making it to the Olympics.

Miller's talk was part of a women's health fair, which was sponsored by Vista, at the Gurnee Holiday Inn.

Miller talked about the joy of winning the team title in 1996, and then having to come right back and compete as an individual, where she failed in her first two events. It was her last event, the balance beam, where she was able to refocus and perform her best to win the individual gold.

She talked about the shock of receiving the diagnosis of a rare form of ovarian cancer in 2011, and how she had to cope with all that it brought with it.

Miller said she was inspired by her own mother who had been diagnosed with cancer just a few years before and was a survivor - and who just recently completed her first marathon.

Miller told the crowd her overall view of life is that you're going to fall down, but what makes people strong is to make themselves get back up and keep on.