Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.

Many medal winners dream of competing in a sport other than the one they're famous for.

For six years, I kept my five Olympic medals wrapped in a plastic bread bag beneath my bed.

As much time as you put into it, that's what your achievements are going to be when you come out of it.

You give up your childhood. You miss proms and games and high-school events, and people say it's awful... I say it was a good trade. You miss something but I think I gained more than I lost.

I like added pressure. It makes me work harder.

Working hard becomes a habit, a serious kind of fun.