Retiring was scary and it was tough to give up gymnastics, but so many great opportunities have come from it that I never expected.

As long as you've done your best, making mistakes doesn't matter. You and I are human; we will mess up. What counts is learning from your mistakes and getting back up when life has knocked you down.

Were taught at such a young age that you can always be better and that youre never perfect and that youre never good enough.

I told myself after 2008 that I was done for good. But they say you can't keep a gymnast away from her sport.

In some ways the ACL tear was a blessing. I had hesitated to return to elite gymnastics after the 2008 Olympics. I told myself I had already accomplished so much, and the road was just going to get harder if I continued.

When it comes to gymnastics, you can be 30 points ahead going into that competition, but on that day, it's all about luck. It's about who has a good day, who stays healthy, it's how happy the judges are that day, there are so many different factors.

Of course, when you're training your whole life to get to the Olympics, you train for gold.