Athlete Quotes

I fell in love with running, and I finally have time to do it now.

I don't want to be all power and muscle.

I don't know where I'm really going to cha cha, but hopefully I can find a place.

I don't feel like a star; I never have. I don't feel like a star; I never have. I always feel like I'm the young one, I'm the small one. I always have someone to look up to, and I think it helps me with motivating myself.

I didn't make it a priority, and as a result my knee didn't heal to the extent it should have.

I always have someone to look up to, and I think it helps me with motivating myself.

I always feel like I'm the young one, I'm the small one.

Gymnastics is so complex.

Everything is about your movements and precision and timing, which is what gymnastics is about.

Every year I just kept going back to gymnastics, but I didn't start out training 10 hours a day. When I turned 10 or 11, I got more serious and I focused a lot on making it to the elite level, and from there I just kept going.

A typical practice consists of practicing every event for about an hour. A lot of people assume I have private coaching, but I work out with 13 other girls at the gym!

Stay strong. Stand up. Have a voice.

Retiring was scary and it was tough to give up gymnastics, but so many great opportunities have come from it that I never expected.

My other life keeps me calm and grounded and normal.

It might have been easier to retire, to say my knee couldn't handle it and let that be that. At the same time, the prospect of not being able to compete in gymnastics anymore was heartbreaking.

I'm doing four hours of gymnastics training a day, six days a week and then an extra two to three hours in a fitness center as well.

I had surgery to repair the ACL in February 2010 and was back in the gym by June, but rushed things too quickly and ended up re-tearing my MCL in September.

I had a constant fear, a constant little doubt in my mind: 'OK, I'm getting ready to do my standing back full on beam and I might re-tear my ACL.'

A comeback in gymnastics is almost impossible in itself.

The body is an amazing machine... If you eat the right things your body will perform incredibly well!

I live for Pilates reformer class. I go at least three times a week. It's a great way to lengthen your muscles, stretch, and kind of relax your mind.

Gymnastics taught me everything - life lessons, responsibility and discipline and respect.

After 13 years of hard landings in gymnastics, one ski run had delivered the biggest injury of my career.

I'm trying to stay as calm as possible and focus one day at a time, but when reality sets in, I feel everything: anxiety, excitement, nerves, pressure and joy.

Work hard. And have patience. Because no matter who you are, you're going to get hurt in your career and you have to be patient to get through the injuries.

When you win, you want more of it. You can't win enough.

When you can throw 97 miles an hour and put the ball over the plate anytime you want, it's fun.

Tiger Woods, Larry Bird, Wayne Gretzky, a pitcher just before a game, I would imagine they all have nervous energy. But as you perform, the nervous energy dissipates and you start to relax and you start to do what you do best.

The word 'potential' used to hang over me like a cloud.

People who say they're not nervous - I would be kind of curious to see how successful you are at what you do and how long you've done it. And what is success in your eyes? Have you separated yourself from everyone else in that craft? Or have you settled amongst the pack?