Even at a young age, when you start to do well, it's tough because it's lonely on top, and I wasn't the most popular.
Michelle Kwan
The biggest lessons I learned were probably the times where I had the biggest setbacks and the biggest challenges - when I had the biggest jumps forward and lessons learned.
To represent your country is an honor and a great experience.
As an athlete, I've always been very proud to represent the United States.
Whatever you're fighting for, you go with full passion and love.
You can always say, 'I wish I had landed that triple flip better, or I wish I didn't fall.' They're not regrets, just mistakes.
Looking back, I feel very fortunate to have had such a long career. Many skaters end their careers in their early 20s. I had the opportunity to go to two Olympic Games - almost three after being the alternate in 1994 and then in 2006 being injured.
The Olympic Games is one of those moments that you remember forever, from the moment that you step foot in the country that you're competing in to the Closing Ceremony.
I'm very goal-oriented. I do see myself doing something in public service.
Sometimes my body is aching, but I always think, 'Why am I in this? Why do I love it so much?' That's what makes me persevere, that's what makes me keep on going.
As a kid, falling was embarrassing. As I got older, I got used to falling and picking myself back up. There's not a sense of failure. It's of disappointment. You train so hard to not make mistakes. When you do, you're learning from that. How do I improve? How do I get better for the next time? Through every failure, there's something to be learned.
I always thought after 2002 that I'd hang up my skates and turn professional and just go on tour and do shows. But I don't know when it is enough. I mean, I still enjoy it. I'm the luckiest girl alive that I get to perform in front of thousands of people, do what I love doing.
I actually prefer soothing music - and maybe that's the skater in me.
As an athlete, that's something I always take with me. You fall every day, whether it's in a job, or you miss something else, but you learn how to do it better next time. You learn it in sports. That's a life lesson.
I'm a big eater.
You see figure skaters fall all the time. It's the way you pick yourself back up and keep going.
In figure skating, you have four minutes to do your best. It's your time; you do your best.
There were days I forgot my school clothes, and I would actually go to school with skating tights and a little skirt. It's very embarrassing... I definitely had to be comfortable in my own skin, and my mom taught me that.
I have stood on the shoulders of giants like Billie Jean King, Hillary Clinton, my mother - people who have really empowered and influenced my life in an incredible way.
If you represent your country and millions of people are watching, it comes through a lot of grit and hard work.
To be the best, you need to be the most well-trained and well-prepared athlete you can be. The pressure is going to be all around you. You just have to make sure that your body and mind is fine-tuned. Then you go out there and do it.
When I was younger, I always dreamed of being a legend, to be remembered in figure skating.
The Women's Sports Foundation has empowered so many young girls and women across the U.S. I benefitted from WSF with a travel and training grant when I was 12 years old. It really helped my family financially.
I was so worried about winning, it was as if I was caught up in my own web.
Skating takes up 70 percent of my time, school about 25 percent. Having fun and talking to my friends, 5 percent. It's hard. I envy other kids a lot of things, but I get a guilt trip when I'm not training.
I got a call this morning, and it was from Nancy Kerrigan, wishing me luck. She wished me luck and sent me all her good wishes.
I don't really remember a time younger than 5 years old that I didn't have skates on because all I can remember is every day, tying up my skates and a big smile on my face, excited to go on the ice.
There's a lot of emotions that always come out after a skate of a lifetime. I always start crying because there is so much buildup to that competition.
I had dreamed of being at the Olympics since I was 7 years old.
As I've gotten older and grown more independent, I think for myself, and that's how it should be.
What I love the most is getting on the ice and just popping in a fabulous CD and skating - all by myself, the rink completely empty, just me and the music.
Because I'm pushing my body so hard already, the last thing I want to do is have music that's really too strong, in my head.
Skating has given me so much that it's priceless.
I would just love to be able to give back to figure skating.
I want to see how far I can train. I have to see how far my body will go.
Girls, in particular, benefit from sports.
A few years after I finished skating, someone asked where my medals were. I'm like, 'In a suitcase somewhere.' Now they're nicely displayed in an ice rink, but medals don't really mean that much. It's the experience, the story of the skating, the love.
I tell aspiring young skaters to dream big, work hard, have fun, and follow their passion. It's simple to say never give up, but learn from your mistakes to keep growing.
If you ask another competitor, they may tell you they felt very competitive towards me. But I can tell you that my biggest competition was myself. There's only so much you can do, right? There is only so much energy that one has. My focus was on how do I get the best out of myself.
Sports provides that tool kit to be successful in life. Because it's not always going to be smooth sailing.
Maybe I didn't get new skates, but I got used skates. I made it to the national championships in used skates that were custom-made for another girl. I still have those skates. Underneath the arch, there was a name crossed out and my dad had 'Michelle Kwan' written in. Granted, they were a little big, but it worked.
When I look at my own career, growing up, I was doing really well at age 11, but it was kind of isolating because back then, people weren't hanging out with me. My mom was always there. She had my back and was like, 'You keep focused. You gotta keep focused.' And I think those kinds of lessons were hard.
I would encourage people to participate in sports. You don't have to dream of being an Olympic or a professional athlete.
I was improving in the sport at age 10, 11, when I was getting my triple jumps - and it was suddenly very isolating. I was doing really well in competitions, and it felt strange because people that were my friends became almost jealous.
I look back at 1993 or 1994 when I made it to the National Championships, and I was on used skates and handmade or borrowed costumes. But my mom was there every step of the way for me: she was the one traveling with me all over the world at age 13.
