It's sad to know I'm done. But looking back, I've got a lot of great memories.Collection: Sad
This Olympics is almost a little sad. It is my final Olympics. There are a lot of good memories.Collection: Sad
Winning doesn't always mean being first. Winning means you're doing better than you've ever done before.
My parents put skates on me at age 2, the way it should be if you're serious, and I've always liked it.
I never could have achieved the success that I have without setting physical activity and health goals.
I love short track. I competed in short track, I was a world champion in 1986 but at that point in time it wasn't in the Olympic Games so I moved into long track. Short track is a blast to skate and it's a blast to watch.
Even though I enjoy that head-to-head competition part, one of the things that drove me to long track was if I won or if I lost I want to know it's all on my shoulders and it didn't have anything to do with anybody else.
I wasn't really expecting me to win the gold in this race. To get another medal for myself and for the U.S. was a pretty good thing to happen, I'd say.
What I've learned from my own journey, and from my family's experience with cancer, is how important it is to stay positive and move forward. Not every day is going to be perfect; that's life. But staying positive is going to get you to the next day.
When you're in a sport like speed skating where the clock gives you the results, there is always a faster goal or a personal best to beat.
My dad saw it as a goal before I did, when I was 12 years old. I didn't think competing in Olympics was possible until I was 16.
What's really hard is when you're having those more difficult days, you've got to be able to dig down deep and be able to go out there and do what it takes to be the best you can be, even on the hardest days.
There's probably nothing quite like crossing the finish line and seeing the clock read numbers that you have never seen before.
The distance between a person's dream and their accomplishments can only be measured by their desire.Collection: Dream
Four key words--helped make my dreams come true. They are: dedication, balance, risk, and love.Collection: Dream
There is no man in any rank who is always at liberty to act as he would incline. In some quarter or other he is limited by circumstances.Collection: Men
Winning doesn't always mean being first.Collection: Mean
I don't remember the first time I skated on ice, I was too young. I do remember falling in love with that wind-in-my-face feeling while speed skating.Collection: Falling In Love
A lot of people think I'm under a lot of pressure with my family and friends spending all that money to follow me aroundCollection: Sports
It doesn't matter what anybody thinks of what I do. The clock doesn't lie.Collection: Leadership
Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would accomplish what I have in the sportCollection: Sports