Kristi Yamaguchi

“I'm always looking for inspiring ways to stay motivated and stay active.”

“Dorothy Hamill was my big idol as a kid. She'd won the Olympics in 1976. She was America's sweetheart with her personality, her talent, her haircut.”

“In terms of my career, having the gold definitely changed my life. The Olympics are different, you know? They're every four years and it's such a small group.”

“There are two or three performances in your life that are absolutely on, where all the planets are lined up for you and you feel you're invincible.”

“Being an athlete, you know how to train and prepare your body for a performance and you're able to do it under pressure.”

“Training for the Olympics was a lifelong endeavor and took many years.”

“I don't know how many people really knew who I was before the Olympics and that's the fun thing of the Olympics - you get to know someone who captures your heart, hopefully.”

“I never wanted to feel I hadn't worked hard enough.”

“I learned to put 100 percent into what you're doing. I learned about setting goals for yourself, knowing where you want to be and taking small steps toward those goals. I learned about adversity and how to get past it.”

“Growing up as an athlete, I started skating very young. My parents didn't know anything about the sport, so they went with the flow. I had two great coaches who gave great advice and gave guidelines for my parents. My parents let the coaches dictate what was going on on the ice.”

“I always try to start out with some type of goal. Then I work backward and think of what I need to do to get there, and give myself smaller goals that are more immediate.”

“I'm kind of a homebody. My husband says I like to just stay home and do nothing, but that's just how I am.”

“The past couple years training with Kurt have really brought inspiration into my skating.”

“I've had a lot more fun with the training.”

“I didn't want to skate for someone else or for certain marks.”

“I'd try to channel my nervous energy in a positive way into strength and endurance. It didn't always work.”

“I burnt myself out of skating. I was ready to focus on being a mom.”