There's so much denial in gymnastics. It's a beautiful sport but the other part is numbing. You become machinelike. They'll refute this, but I've been around it. I know.

I grew up in a sport that didn't allow you to grow up. There was always the threat of younger competition. So you had to maintain the image of youth.

An athlete learns how to hold her breath, but that doesn't work in singing. You have to learn to relax.

Seeing the show is like a visit to the fountain of youth for parents and the children.

Flying is such a joy. You just want to hoot.

I would climb on roofs and jump off using my parents' bed sheet, hoping it would open like a parachute. I was always getting hurt, breaking a leg, you know, bruising, cracking my head open.

It's really hard to separate fantasy from reality.