Max Aaron

“I'm not going to let anyone tell me that I can't perform, that I'm not artistic.”

“I can't say I have a lucky charm, but I do wear a 3/4-zip U.S.A. jacket I wear to every event. I got it from Nike, and it was from the 2012 Olympic Games.”

“I was tired of getting last or fifth or sixth. I was tired of falling multiple times in a program. I was tired of competing differently than how I trained. If I was going to do that, why train so hard? I took a step back, and I figured out what I wanted to change about myself.”

“I'm never going to let someone else tell me what I can and can't do.”

“I hope to take my Birthright trip.”

“There were many times that I took such a big hit that I was dazed; I'm not going to lie. I'd see black, but I'm still looking for the puck. Where's the play going? I'm going to keep going. Same thing in figure skating. If I take a hard fall, I'm going to get up, and I'm going to do the next jump.”

“I definitely love getting a massage or going to a spa.”

“I have a pretty strict diet, and for breakfast, I have three eggs and a cup of oatmeal.”

“I'll fight anybody.”

“I have always wanted to be the best, and it drives me every day, no matter the obstacle.”

“I love any event in the United States because I treat it like it's my home, my house. And I'm going to protect it.”

“No fear - that's my approach every single time I'm on the ice.”

“I'm not afraid of falling or failing, because I've failed many times, and I learned from them.”

“It eventually ends, and that's what I think a lot of athletes forget. It's 10 years after the Olympics, and you won the Olympics, and that's great, but no one cares.”

“I remember watching the 2002 Olympic Games and watching the men's event. I just started figure skating, and I remember thinking how cool it would be to be there.”

“I have my struggles. But I'm doing whatever it takes to be an artist, to be the best technical jumper I can be, the best spinner I can be. Nothing is easy about that. But I'm doing whatever I can to be the best.”

“I push myself as hard as I can every day so I can achieve my goals and so I feel I have nothing to regret later on after my career.”

“I like to go to bed around 10 P.M.”

“At the end of the day, I could go back to getting sixth or seventh place and being a mediocre skater, or I could be a champion. I want to be a champion.”

“Some days it's tough, and I don't want to train my mental game, or I don't want to train my components as hard as I used to.”