In terms of my career, having the gold definitely changed my life. The Olympics are different, you know? They're every four years and it's such a small group.

Everything that happened in '92 was more than I had dreamed of... winning the U.S. title for the first time and then doing so well at the Olympics... It seemed to wrap things up so perfectly. I couldn't help thinking, 'How could I top that?'

I never wanted to feel I hadn't worked hard enough.

Dorothy Hamill was my big idol as a kid. She'd won the Olympics in 1976. She was America's sweetheart with her personality, her talent, her haircut.

I feel like I missed out on the regular high school social life, but that's the way I chose to be.

Growing up as an athlete, I started skating very young. My parents didn't know anything about the sport, so they went with the flow. I had two great coaches who gave great advice and gave guidelines for my parents. My parents let the coaches dictate what was going on on the ice.

Being an athlete, you know how to train and prepare your body for a performance and you're able to do it under pressure.