We don't have a World Series or a Super Bowl, so to be able to come home with a gold medal is amazing. I want to do it again in four more years.

At the point when I switched from indoor to beach I had been playing indoor for 12 years. And, to be honest, to make a living indoors you have to go overseas. I am such a family girl and just wanted to be home, so that didn't appeal to me. Misty May was looking for a partner, I was looking to stay at home, and the beach just came calling. And mostly I stuck with it because I loved the challenge of it, but also just the autonomy of it. It's two on two, just you and your partner, you're not one of the herd. And the lifestyle is unbeatable.

I want to be the best role model I can be for my family.

At some point you're like, gosh, this rehab is never going to end, and then all of a sudden I'm full strength and I'm about to go to my first competition. So I feel really great.

But they've [my children] made me better. They hold me more accountable for who I am and who I aspire to be, and they make me want to be better. And that's not just as a mommy, but as a woman and as an athlete.

Breathe, believe, and battle.' My former coach, Troy Tanner, told us that before each match. Breathe-be in the moment. Believe-have faith that you can rise above it. Battle-you gotta be prepared to go for as long as it takes.

My support system, in my surgeon, my P.T., my pilates, my weightlifting, everything that I'm doing to make my body and my mind stronger is just, you know, has been on point. So I feel very prepared for the journey to qualify, and the journey to wear the gold medal.