Debi Thomas

“I watch a lot of professional skating, and I am really looking forward to going to nationals.”

“The Olympics: not one of my better memories.”

“But I like it when my patients are impressed not knowing that I was an Olympian.”

“I've got this thing with skating and school - to see how much I can accomplish.”

“I am not really sure how I got interested in medicine.”

“I was always very strong in math, physics and calculus.”

“So I went for engineering, specifically product design, which I enjoyed.”

“I just thought that it was magical having to glide across the ice.”

“Right now I am doing my residency in orthopedic research.”

“I begged my mom to let me start skating.”

“I tell people I'm too stupid to know what's impossible. I have ridiculously large dreams, and half the time they come true.”

“I got a bronze medal and I can't complain about that, the only African-American to get a medal in the Winter Olympics.”

“I want people to know when I'm taking care of them I'll give it all that I've got.”

“Being an Olympian, I always have this strong belief in excellence.”

“I would make my mom buy me the toy doctor kit.”

“What was most important to me at the Olympics was going out there and performing my best. When I messed up the first jump combination, which was my big move, it hit me that I messed up the program of my life.”

“Just because you didn't start out perfect doesn't mean you can't have an excellent result in the end.”

“For as long as I can really remember, I wanted to be a doctor.”

“I wanted to be a doctor since I was five.”

“My skating is a very emotional thing that comes from the heart, never doing it for the medal.”