Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Yes, I am the Olympic champion, but this is not the end of it. I want all the gold that there is out there, everything that exists in figure skating. In all events, in all competitions.
I want people to see a real person on the ice. I want to seem tangible, hard-working, passionate about my skating, not just going out and doing something I've rehearsed a million times.
The booing and the drama help make the Olympics interesting, but at what cost? When will people finally get tired of it and start watching the X-Games or competitive tire rolling instead?
Peace is what enables development and is critical in providing opportunities to young people. Efforts to preserve peace are absolutely vital in bringing prosperity and hope for the future.
When you're expected to win and you have the press saying that you are going to win the Olympic gold medal, and you're the only sure thing in the Olympics, it can undermine your confidence.
I think growing up in skating, I was surrounded by the LGBT community, so I grew up very aware because I was around it so often, and some of the kindest people I know are gay figure skaters.
I was just ice skating. I had no concept of that. In those days you couldn't see the judges. I was this little person on the ice and they were just people that would stand around the boards.
I always thought the Vancouver Olympics would be my last destination, but I'm extending it to Sochi... I want to start anew, not as an Olympic medalist but just as yet another figure skater.
I know that, in hockey, the object of the game is simple in that you have to get the puck into the net. With figure skating, it's not as simple, and there is a ton of work that goes into it.
I try to stay low-carb and high on lean protein. I'm lucky in that I love chicken and rice; it's one of my favorite meals. I steam some vegetables and top them with olive oil for some flavor.
I feel like at the Olympics I gave the best performance of my life and I wasn't rewarded for that as an athlete. Yes, my fans and my mom were happy about it, but I didn't win that gold medal.
I skated like it's a sport, went for everthing and just gave it my best shot. It turned out freat. I had nothing to lose. You might be the best in your heart, but not in other people's sight.
I've always wanted to skate. If and when I decide to retire... I want to perform. I want to be on the ice. I want to continue contributing to the sport. I feel like I still have a lot to offer.
As an athlete, you choose your sport and are drawn into it but your passion should never be driven by fame and fortune but a desire to create something special that people will always remember.
Even now, my husband Jerry, our son Matthew and I live only five minutes away from my parents home, and my brothers live about ten minutes away. It's been great having such a supportive family.
We need to remind people how fun skating is, how quirky skating is. If we went on TV and overlooked the cold, hard truths and the quirkiness, I don't think that's bringing anything to the fans.
They're still considered Olympic eligibles, so there's never an issue whether they're going to turn pro or not. When they get to that level, money is never an issue. They make so much money now.
I'm a show pony, and I don't get to skate with girls doing triple Axels every single day. I skate with little babies who are working on their single Axels while trying not to hit them on the ice.
My mom devised a plan to get me out of the house and gave me the choice between ballet or skating. She knew both of those sports were time-consuming and would keep me busy with hours of practice.
In this crazy, crazy world of figure skating, it is easy to focus on a name or a target. But when you are going after someone, it really only holds you back from what you are capable of yourself.
When you see the audiences and the smiling faces at the shows it really makes up for the work that you put in. I have a job I really love so whatever hecticness comes up - I'll just deal with it.
I'll always represent Canada. I was born here, and my parents chose to immigrate here. There are so many things I don't see in other countries, I see here. I love having the Maple Leaf behind me.
While I circled around and around in my brown rental skates, I studied a group of skaters spinning in the center. I was fascinated! When my mom picked me up, I began a campaign for skating lessons.
At 6 years old, the ice became a place for me to express myself. Because I was so shy off the ice, it became my safe haven, with music and freedom and self-expression. That was my emotional outlet.
Refined indifference is a sports psychology precept: train like there's no tomorrow and then accept whatever happens. Once you step on the field realize that whatever is meant to be is meant to be.
If I'm on skates, I feel at home no matter what I'm doing. If they wanted me to sing and dance I think I could do it just becauseI was on skates. When I'm not on skates, though, I feel very strange.
I don't really remember a time younger than 5 years old that I didn't have skates on because all I can remember is every day, tying up my skates and a big smile on my face, excited to go on the ice.
There is no age, height, or weight requirement to skate. It is good exercise no matter what your age is. If you want to be competitive, most start young. But, I practice with many adult competitors.
To be a genuine individualist requires a great deal of strength and courage. It is never easy to chart new territory, to cross new frontiers, or to introduce subtle shadings to an established color.
When youre young, you dont think very far ahead. You just think in terms of the next day, the next week, the next competition. You dont think about injuries that could threaten your long-term health.
I think what every skater dreams of is not only skating the best program they can possibly skate, but, y'know, having the crowd roar at the end, and it was just so loud I couldn't even hear my music.
So as an amateur Olympic competitor I loved criticism, because it made me better. But now as a professional I don't really know how to channel it or where to take it, so I don't take it quite as well.
Because winning a gold medal had been a dream of mine since a young age, I needed to empty my mind during the preparation for the Olympics by telling myself that it would be OK not to win a gold medal.
With 30,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalizations from the seasonal flu, those numbers are certainly higher than what we've seen of the swine flu. Protecting yourself from both viruses is very important.
It's a level of strength and character that few of us can imagine; a grace under pressure that few of us will ever attain. It's why an Olympic gold medal would not have made us love or admire her more.
I don't really think they saw anything in me, except the fact that I was interested in it. Some of the kids would miss a week here and miss a week there, I think they could see that I really enjoyed it.
When you're young, you don't think very far ahead. You just think in terms of the next day, the next week, the next competition. You don't think about injuries that could threaten your long-term health.
An athlete gains so much knowledge by just participating in a sport. Focus, discipline, hard work, goal setting and, of course, the thrill of finally achieving your goals. These are all lessons in life.
Literally falling on the ice and having to pick yourself up in front of thousands of people is not an easy thing to do. The thing that you learn is to pick yourself back up, to learn from your mistakes.
Obviously, the competition at an Olympics, the emotions are running high, and the stakes are higher for these athletes, so it does bring an incredible, palpable excitement and emotion into the building.
In skating or any amateur sport, as athletes we share something in common: the cost of training is quite a burden on our parents or on the athletes themselves trying to find a way to pay for their costs.
Love your sport. Never do it to please someone else; it has to be yours. That is all that will justify the hard work. Compete against yourself, not others, for that is who is truly your best competition.
The world went by, and we didn't get caught up in all the other things, because we didn't have time. We had no spare time. It was always thinking about training and focusing on what we wanted, our goals.
I love how my sport reaches out to people with the music and story lines, the glory of standing up for three or four minutes of tough, arduous, gravity-defying skating and all the stuff that goes with it.
My family, the support of my friends, the amount of people that have written and come up to me on the street and said, 'Thank you for representing us,' and Adam Lambert, and Lady Gaga, that's been amazing.
It's really grinding to always play out of both sides of your mind and always be thinking what will offend people. Or what won't. But I'm strong enough to deal with that. I own that I'm freakish in my way.
I've always had a loud mouth, and for that I've gotten a lot of attention. I did falter in some big competitions in my career, but being counted out and not being seen as a threat is something I'm used to.
Doing shows is always a side of skating that I've loved, it's the performing. I get to do that without the pressure, it's always fun between the skaters and the preparation, the show is always so much fun.
Skating takes up 70 percent of my time, school about 25 percent. Having fun and talking to my friends, 5 percent. It's hard. I envy other kids a lot of things, but I get a guilt trip when I'm not training.
If just one person, one child who is made to feel isolated, looks at me and sees that it is okay to be your own person and walk down your own path, then everything I have ever gone through will be worth it.