Adversity, and perseverance and all these things can shape you. They can give you a value and a self-esteem that is priceless.

The Olympics in '80 was phenomenal. It was my favorite memory of all competitive events, because it was brand new and it was exciting.

Rationality is not one of this industry's attributes.

Half of figure skating is opinion, convincing judges.

But I never really thought that I would be extraordinarily successful at skating, it's just something that happened, you know.

And so figure skating was a great vehicle for me to kind of be competitive at something, without having to be big.

So as an amateur Olympic competitor I loved criticism, because it made me better. But now as a professional I don't really know how to channel it or where to take it, so I don't take it quite as well.