After 13 years of hard landings in gymnastics, one ski run had delivered the biggest injury of my career.
Stay strong. Stand up. Have a voice.
I have a healthy lifestyle, but there’s nothing you can really do to prevent from rolling an ankle or something like that.
I had a constant fear, a constant little doubt in my mind: ‘OK, I’m getting ready to do my standing back full on beam and I might re-tear my ACL.’
A comeback in gymnastics is almost impossible in itself.
I live for Pilates reformer class. I go at least three times a week. It’s a great way to lengthen your muscles, stretch, and kind of relax your mind.
I love lean meats like chicken, turkey. I’m obsessed with sushi and fish in general. I eat a lot of veggies and hummus.
I started from zero and went back to the basics in gymnastics.
I still can’t believe I’m an Olympic athlete.
My coach, Liang Chow, had one rule while I was training for the 2008 Olympics: no skiing. I could do anything I wanted outside the gym, he said, except ski.
In some ways the ACL tear was a blessing. I had hesitated to return to elite gymnastics after the 2008 Olympics. I told myself I had already accomplished so much, and the road was just going to get harder if I continued.
When I was 3 my parents put me in gymnastics because I was a bundle of energy and they just didn’t know what to do with me! They put me in a Tots class and I just fell in love with it.
To finish off this whole Olympics by finally getting the gold medal, it’s the best feeling in the world.
Staying healthy and consistent is paramount.
People put too much emphasis on looks.
Of course, when you’re training your whole life to get to the Olympics, you train for gold.
My approach to gymnastics in Beijing was heavily based on the amount of difficulty I could do.
I’ve never had a teammate competing with me my whole life.
I’m trying to stay as calm as possible and focus one day at a time, but when reality sets in, I feel everything: anxiety, excitement, nerves, pressure and joy.
Embrace your crazy.