McKayla Maroney Quotes

I've always loved so many different things about social media and music and art and fashion. I always loved it. But I've been too scared to jump into it, knowing that people would be upset about it. So that's why I hid from it. And now, I'm not afraid to be myself.

Gymnastics, you get one shot; acting, it's like, do it again, do it again, do it again. So that was the one thing that I found very different. You're allowed to get different tries and you're more expressive in a way when you're working with people. In gymnastics, you're so on your own and individual.

If you're following your dreams, you're doing something you love and that you believe in yourself for.

I was a gymnast my whole life. I mean, I'd go to Starbucks and people would be like, 'Are you going to the next Olympics?' And when I'd say no, they'd literally look sad. So it was very hard for me to get excited about anything else. I thought that I had to do gymnastics forever.

Even my bio on Instagram is like, 'That girl that fell at the Olympics.' Just as a joke. Because that's how people come up to me and that's what they say. That's how they remember me.

Looking back isn't going to help you! Moving forward is the thing to do

Growing up in the social media world, it's tough. Your face changes, you get older, your face fills out, and you fall into liking makeup and different stuff like that. And for people saying that, for the most part - it would kind of hurt my feelings when you haven't done anything. You just kind of have to keep being yourself and move forward with what you love.

It's a very vulnerable position to be in. I was so young and I was not focused on what I looked like. I was focused on the gold medal. At the end of the day, I have changed. I can't blame anybody for saying, 'Oh, she changed!' You know, because I have. And that's OK. It's good to keep evolving and growing. I think most people should be accepting with stuff like that, but you know, you can't force anybody into feeling a certain way. So for anybody who's judging it and not liking it, that's fine. Unfollow me. I don't really care.

Every single day, I get asked by people to do the face, so Im bringing it along with me now for the rest of my life.

I love learning, so it's definitely something I could see myself doing when I'm 30 or something. I always wanted to go for music production and health and psychology. But my whole life, I was in a gym for eight hours a day. I'm ready to be young and have fun.

With gymnastics, I know I was making some people in that world mad because they thought that I wasn't focused on gymnastics. They were like, 'Ugh, she won't get off social media, she's always tweeting.' They wanted me to be America's sweetheart. And I think I've never fit into that cookie cutter person.

You have to stay true to yourself and where youre coming from, and sometimes people see you in a different light, but you have to take it in and try to be positive about anything.

You get depressed because you're like, 'Everybody's working and I'm here sitting.' I feel for all gymnasts who get hurt. Injuries are just awful, but at least I had 'Bones' to work on when I wasn't training. It got my mind off the fact that I couldn't do anything.

In gymnastics, everything is a competition. You want to have your hair look the best and your makeup look the best. You want to be the best, and you want to have the prettiest leotard.