I cant justify taking money away from hungry kids and needy schools to pay for the Games when corporations are willing to write the checks.

I'm very determined and stubborn. There's a desire in me that makes me want to do more and more, and to do it right. Each one of us has a fire in our heart for something. It's our goal in life to find it and to keep it lit.

Training for the Olympics was much easier than balancing my life now! When practice was over, there was time for me. But with four kids and a career, I have no downtime. When I'm not on the road, I finish my workday at 2:30 p.m. Then I pick the kids up from school and they get 100 percent Mommy, not part Mommy and part Mary Lou Retton.

In the dressing room, I always put on my right shoe first. Same thing for my right wristband.

Friendship is a living thing that lasts only as it is nourished with kindness, sympathy, and understanding.

Fragile egos are put on the line every day.

Children possess a remarkable amount of passion. They throw themselves completely, heart and soul, into everything.