I want to make sure I always show off my smile and have a positive attitude the whole time, whether it's during a performance, practice, or doing an interview.
Laurie Hernandez
Sometimes you just don't know what to say.
I think it's amazing that I can go out there and be myself, and the fact that I'm carrying Puerto Rico on my back a little bit is such an honor.
No matter what race or color you are, you can aspire to do something great.
I think people are people. If you want something, go get it. I don't think it matters what race you are.
I feel that, every day, God molds me into someone that He wants me to be. So if that means just, like, talking to teammates and helping them out, or, like, every so often I'll post a Bible verse on Twitter or Instagram.
My parents have tried not to intrude. They kind of stayed apart from my gymnastics but are very supportive, and that's very helpful as a gymnast to not have your parents say, 'Did you do this today?' and just be very on top of you.
I am second-generation American, and my grandparents are from Puerto Rico.
People have seen me at my best, but I don't think most of them know everything that it took to get me to where I am today.
When I'm not training, I'm typically doing anything self-care, so, like, bath bombs and face masks, or, like, having a movie night with my family, if that's possible.
When I was a little kid, I looked up to other people, so I hope that I can inspire little kids.
I feel I could be a role model to other Hispanic gymnasts interested in the sport, but I also want them to understand the importance of being focused, determined, and not giving up, despite all the struggles.
Homeschooling is great because it's extremely lenient, and so if there's a day I come home from practice and mentally, I'm just exhausted, I can actually just save the test for the next day if I really have to.
I don't see it as pressure at all. I see it as such an honor to just in some sort of way represent Puerto Rico and Hispanics and all the girls out there.
My whole life revolved around gymnastics because I loved it so much. I home-schooled because of it; I changed my eating habits.
Growing up, there wasn't an exact Hispanic role model that I had. I didn't realize how big a difference I was making, going to the Olympics and being Hispanic, until I would be in an autograph session, and parents would come up to me and say, 'You know, our family is so proud of you, you're really doing Hispanics proud.'
I got a piece of a dead person's ligament in my body.
If you think too far ahead, then it'll just stress you out.
I want to be a role model. I want to be able to know that I inspired girls to work hard and go for their dreams and to never give up.
I think I still like science and art better, but geometry is a big improvement over algebra.
If you want to train hard enough to go to the Olympics, then you're going to go out, and you're going to do it. It doesn't matter what skin color or who you are.
I was an energetic child, always walking on my hands, flipping off of the back of the couch, or jumping up and down on my bed.
The big cheat meal will be a cookies and cream milkshake.
Something that would probably surprise my fans is that I wear contact lenses, and nobody really knows that because I guess I've never really had to tell anybody about that.
Coming into 'Dancing With the Stars,' I thought it would be a lot easier.
I hope I can help inspire people to go for their dreams.
It's kind of like I won a gold medal with my family.
When you have family with you, it gives you extra energy.
Usually, before I salute the judge, I'm able to just grab the event, and I pray on it, and that really grounds me. For some reason, once I do that, I am able to think clearly, and I'm able to calm down right before I compete.
My mother was in the Army Reserve for six years. She taught me the importance of following rules, finishing what I start, never giving up, leadership skills, teamwork, staying positive, motivated and how to pack the military way when I'm traveling!
Now that I'm doing all these big competitions, I've learned to control my nerves and control my mindset, and I think that's where the maturity comes in.
I love listening to music in general before I compete. It's something that calms me down, and meditating and breathing before I get up there to calm all my nerves.
If I could go anywhere, I'd love to visit Greece someday because it looks so beautiful, and I'd also love to go to Mexico.
Being able to do something that I love and be at such a high level of gymnastics is just amazing.
I don't think that being Hispanic, being black, being white - I don't think that limits you to anything. I think everyone should just go for what they want.
Growing up and seeing Shawn Johnson, for her to call me on the phone, I think my inner child was freaking out!
Since kindergarten, I was the shortest kid in class. They always put me toward the front in school pictures, because you couldn't see me if I was in the back. It was kind of funny.
We're all different, so even though someone is getting a skill before you, it doesn't mean that you're not good enough; it just means you have to wait a little bit, and the skill will come when it comes.
I love performing for the crowd. Maybe that's what it is. I'm a crowd pleaser.
Honestly, I don't really know the rules of tango!
The best part is when parents come up to me with their kids, and they say, 'My daughter started gymnastics because of you.'
As far as cartoons go, I watched a lot of 'Ed, Edd, n Eddy' when I was a kid.
Secretly, I'm a 5-year-old.
I've been to Tokyo-slash-Japan - we actually went to Yokohama in 2015 and 2013 for international competitions. I think that it would be really nice to go back and do a little Olympic thing there.
I'm confident. I'm a crowd pleaser.
Basically, I was a little bit nervous before competing beam at the Olympics, and I had this nervous thing to just talk to myself, like 'You can do it, you can do it.' And right before I hopped up there, I said, 'I got this.'
My earliest memory was watching gymnastics on live TV and wanting to do what the 'big girls' did.
I started a gymnastics class at five years old, but it became serious at seven.
A goal of making it to the Olympic Games has motivated me to work very hard in my sport.
I would love to be an actress!
