Most other competitions are individual achievements, but the Olympic Games is something that belongs to everybody.

Everything that I've ever been able to accomplish in skating and in life has come out of adversity and perseverance.

A bad attitude is the only true handicap.

I started skating and I kind of liked it because I could run circles around the guys that wouldn't pick me to play baseball.

What was really funny is that as I got older all those guys who called me a sissy in junior high school wanted me to be their best friend because they wanted to meet all the girls that I knew in figure skating.

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

That's what makes the Ryder Cup in golf so much better than the Masters or the U.S. Open. To be a part of something that is not about personal achievement, but about representing everyone and sharing it with the whole country, it's wonderful.