Giving life to music through skating was something I wanted to be known for.
I think exercise tests us in so many ways, our skills, our hearts, our ability to bounce back after setbacks. This is the inner beauty of sports and competition, and it can serve us all well as adult athletes.
When I was on the ice, in the lights, with the music and the motion, there was a certain kind of flirtation that gave great energy and expressiveness to my performance.
We wanted to be achievers, but being an achiever didn't mean that you stopped being a woman.
Then came the choreography... the impact of music and choreography tends to really emphasize an overall feeling of what you really want out of the program.
The world went by, and we didn't get caught up in all the other things, because we didn't have time. We had no spare time. It was always thinking about training and focusing on what we wanted, our goals.
The first thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else. It has to be yours.
Skating was the vessel into which I could pour my heart and soul.
My sport taught me what I could do with my talents, whether in the rink or in the rest of my life.
When the going got tough, I really had to draw on many of the same competitive instincts I did when I was skating. I really had to put my head down and stay positive. I had to fight.