In group lesson number six I think we learned how to turn backwards and then just kind of wiggle. That wasn't really skating backward, but I guess I was going in the right direction.

My parents didn't have a lot of money, but we never knew that. They really did the best they could.

If I'm on skates, I feel at home no matter what I'm doing. If they wanted me to sing and dance I think I could do it just becauseI was on skates. When I'm not on skates, though, I feel very strange.

I worked as hard as I could. I was always the first one on the ice, and the last one off.

I was passionate. I found something that I loved. I could be all alone in a big old skating rink and nobody could get near me and I didn't have to talk to anybody because of my shyness. It was great. I was in my fantasy world.

You see the fairy tale - four minutes of glory at the Olympics. I thought my life would be cake after that.

I wanted to learn how to skate backwards and they wouldn't help me and they went off and left me on my own.