Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
You, and you alone, are the person who should take the measure of your own success. . . . I do not try to be better than anyone else. I only try to be better than myself.
One thing is having skated five of the best races I've probably could have skated. It was nice to peak at the right time and to do it in an important time in somebody's career.
The more composed scenes are like elevator music compared to some of the more dynamic styles of music. One is not better than the other. They both deserve their spots in the world.
Some of the best things in my life have happened to me because I listened to my mother. And some of the worst things in my life have happened to me because I listened to my mother.
What a great opportunity to come to my fifth Olympics, be flag bearer and also be a returning medalist so I have a platform to talk about something and hopefully do some good in this world.
You don't really want to load up a whole lot, probably anything more than four hours before the race. I needed something to make me feel full, but I certainly didn't want it to make me feel stuffed.
The real preparation for races is done in the off-season. I put in the hard work during the summer and fall, and I'm always working on technique so that when the actual races come around I'm ready to go.
We had a party with the rest of the skaters in our trailer and then the next day we were off to see Jimmy Carter. And then we had the World Championships the next weekend, so not a lot of chance to catch up.
I encourage everybody and challenge everybody to strive towards their goals. . . . There will be ups and there will be downs, but just keep working towards them and don't let anybody tell you that you can't do it.
I've won a medal, but that's nothing compared to the crown I'll get in Heaven. I see a lot of people in sports who think when they reach a certain level they've got it made, but really, you can only find happiness in the Lord.
Abuse of any kind thrives off secrecy. I felt like if I started talking about it, maybe other people would. I wanted to break the silence. Now I feel I'm in a much better place emotionally than I've ever been anytime in my life.
I usually just write down what I'm doing and how I felt. How I felt if I'm skating fast, compared to if I'm skating slow or if I'm tired. I can always go back and look as a reference and see what I was doing. It's pretty much my life on ice.
I started skating at age 2 on roller skates on the South Side of Chicago, where I grew up. By age 4, roller-skating was something I really enjoyed. Everyone around me wanted to do the 'roll bounce' thing, but I was pretty much only interested in going fast.
Abuse exists because of secrecy. If I can use this platform and talk about it and break the silence, somebody can get the help and support they need. It's such a common problem, and it doesn't need to be. All you have to do is talk about it and break the silence.
How much you move affects your strength, your power, your balance, how you look, how you think, how well you withstand the high winds and rain showers of life and how long you will stand. Everyone needs concentrated doses of several kinds of movement to remain functional.
Mentally, my key is just focusing on the little things I need to do in a race, whether that's tempo, turn entry, start speed, things like that. I'm not thinking about that much before or during a race. I just trust in my ability and all the hard work I put in and let the race come to me.
I can be really fast, but other people are in the race. So you've got to be able to maneuver around those guys, and you have to be a little more versatile out there on the ice. I bring my fitness that I gained from the long track over to here. Hopefully, I'll be able to put it to good use.
To achieve in sports you first have to have a dream, and then you must act on that dream. The best athletes are those who truly enjoy what they are doing and display a tremendous amount of work ethic. They continue to persevere in spite of setbacks and never lose sight of their ultimate goal.
I don't want to be a celebrity athlete. When you are, there's this pressure on you. It's like you have this halo over your head and have to walk on eggshells. That's not for me. All that glamour builds up a false sense of ego. It's not needed. I'm already happy with who I am. My job is just to get on the podium.
I am honored to be selected as Canada's flag bearer for the closing ceremony of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. Over the past 16 days we've had some outstanding performances by Canadian athletes and it is truly overwhelming to be selected as the flag bearer amidst the most successful Canadian Olympic Winter Games team ever.
I look at sport and competition as something that has been personally enormously beneficial to me. It's helped me create life skills. And if we carry ourselves with grace and dignity and try our best - even when we fall on our faces, as will happen sometimes - then I think people will see that. And that will be the message of sport and the Olympics.
Growing up, you always dream of winning a gold medal. But coming into these Games, it wasn't something I was focused on. I'm just enjoying skating. This is the best season ever. I think that this year, my 3,000 meters has been stronger than the 1,500. The 1,500 has been anybody's race this year. When I was first, I still didn't know if that was enough.
To me, personally, it doesn't matter what color I am. Black or white, Asian or Hispanic, it doesn't matter to me as long as the message I'm portraying to people that watch me on TV is positive and it shows that they can do things that are different besides catching a football, hitting a baseball or shooting a basketball. I'm just showing them that stepping outside the bubble is OK and they can be successful at it.