Everything for me started with my love of the sport. In society we’re losing the fun with kids and pushing success on them too hard. Success comes from fun.
I pay attention to my diet to be a healthier gymnast, but I’m not obsessive over it.
I don’t call them sacrifices. I call them exchanges.
I don’t think I’ve ever not gotten nervous. When you work so hard for one special day or routine, you want to perform it better than you ever have. We always say at our gym, If you lose the nerves, you lose the sport.
To have any doubt in your body is the biggest weakness an athlete can have.
Gymnastics is not only a good thing to live by, but it is important to understand how it does help you in life.
I was at the Olympic Games winning medals and I still doubted my image. I doubted what I looked like. That’s sad.
I told myself after 2008 that I was done for good. But they say you can’t keep a gymnast away from her sport.
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.
Injury taught me I need to learn how to face challenges.
People only see gymnastics on TV and in the Olympics at such an extreme. So it can be intimidating.
Something my mom taught me when I was little is that everything happens for a reason.
I missed being considered an athlete and having that competitive drive, and missed having something to work for every day. I’d taken two and a half years away from the sport and was out of shape. I wanted to get back to where I was in 2008.
I know how much more I need to do to be where I want.
If you lose the nerves, you lose the sport.
Image isn’t everything, It’s what comes from your heart, and what you learn and what you say and how you act that means more than anything.
I fell in love with gymnastics. I love what I do now. I work with people that I love to be around. Success comes from that.
Don’t force anything. Find what you love and stick with it.
I started taking gymnastic classes when I was 3 years old.
I set my phone with motivational quotes to go off on random days and times. Like, ‘You’re stronger than you think you are.’ I’ll forget about it, then one will pop up and it’ll give me a little boost.