First and foremost I am an American athlete and I am proud to live in a country that encourages diversity, openness and tolerance.

If I had never won a single medal, I'd still be skating in a rink somewhere. There wouldn't be an audience or camera flashes or autograph seekers, but I'd still be skating.

I love skating. I love the speed, the power, the excitement, the feeling that --- even for just a moment --- I can defy gravity and fly through the air. And I love the way that a great skating performance, like any work of art, can move an audience to laughter or tears.

A really important part of competition is coming back, trying to do it better the second time than you did the first.

I have to consider my greatest accomplishments winning the Olympics because everything that Ive done after that is really because of the Olympics.

Kat and I were in our 20s when we won in '88. Our personalities were already established. We were ready to move on to a life of professional skating.

From an athlete's perspective, to cancel the Olympics in regards to the threats would be absolutely devastating - especially since the Olympics - it's really about people meeting together through sports and putting aside their countries' differences for that time.