Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The joy had been ripped away from me, but deep down, I loved the competition floor. And I thought, 'Gymnastics is literally the only thing I have.'
I was able to represent my country and put on the red, white, and blue - how many people in the world get to do that? Standing on the podium with my teammates, and being the first women's gymnastics team to win this gold medal, it was life-changing!
I knew when I started gymnastics, I wanted to have a lot of fun and eventually go to the Olympics. On the moments where I felt really down, I just remembered, 'You're almost there. Just keep going. Keep working hard.'
After 13 years of hard landings in gymnastics, one ski run had delivered the biggest injury of my career.
Of course, most people remember that I received the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics competition.
Face each day with the expectation of achieving good, rather than the dread of falling short.
Up to nineteen seventy six when I quit gymnastics I was very, disappointed because I didn't have anything which is, live with. I didn't have a friend so I didn't have a coach anymore.
I have said that gymnastics can be abusive and brutal. That was my experience. I felt trapped in a world where authority figures were dictating my future.
Gymnastics is not only a good thing to live by, but it is important to understand how it does help you in life.
Romania doesn't have a big tradition of gymnastics as a fun activity. We were a little behind in this aspect.
Other people may not have had high expectations for me... but I had high expectations for myself.
Finally I almost dropped gymnastics because I couldn't live without create, and you know, and then, all public in the world start to say, we don't want to see gymnastics without Olga.
I've said before, 'gymnastics is abusive,' but now I know it's not the sport that's abusive - it's the culture that was created and accepted and normalized.
I fell in love with gymnastics. I love what I do now. I work with people that I love to be around. Success comes from that.
I think gymnastics was associated with the 10. I thought that belonged to the sport, and somehow we gave it way.
Gymnastics uses every single part of your body, every little tiny muscle that you never even knew.
And we lost a lot because of that, and I think this is future gymnastics to separate ages. Because kids can do it more than adult. A woman and adult woman can show more than the small kids.
The truth is, gymnastics is a beautiful sport that has allowed me to grow and learn invaluable life lessons: sacrifice, dedication, discipline. Eventually, it led me to my voice.
Retiring was scary and it was tough to give up gymnastics, but so many great opportunities have come from it that I never expected.
It's like someone important is missing from a party because you can't imagine an Olympic gymnastics competition without Romania.
In gymnastics, the longest routine you do is a minute and a half, and that's pretty tough to get through.
I think this is all my life. Because if I was split gymnastics and something else like far, fun or to go with friends. No, this, you're supposed to one go, one straight road and to do every day. And touch the wall, of the goal.
I'm doing four hours of gymnastics training a day, six days a week and then an extra two to three hours in a fitness center as well.
At 14, you think you compete, you retire and you get a job. I didn't think gymnastics was a career that was going to change my life.
We typically don't choose our athletes until about a month prior to the Games because anything can happen.
Because up to sixteen years old you feel gymnastics more. You can show your emotion, grace, like woman gymnastics, not kid's gymnastics. I feel I have good shape, and I can do it elements everything, but, it's not competition for me.
Image isn't everything, It's what comes from your heart, and what you learn and what you say and how you act that means more than anything.
I know how to smile, I know how to laugh, I know how to play. But I know how to do these things only after I have fulfilled my mission.
When I go in to compete, whether it's gymnastics or anything else, I do my own thing. I compete with myself.
Remember before nineteen seventy two Olympic Games I was total skinny, I was small, very strong, they may be don't like to see a gymnastics like that. I don't know but, gymnastics, might. Nineteen seventy two supposed to be change somewhere.
Gymnastics has made me strong. I feel like it broke me down to my lowest point, but at the same time, it has given me the greatest strength anyone could ask for.
It was my mother who got me involved in gymnastics, sending me to classes when I was six just to stop me doing back flips on the couch and destroying the furniture.
There is always going to be a reason why you can't do something; your job is to constantly look for the reasons why you can achieve your dreams.
I think about my goals. There were a lot of times in gymnastics when I really didn't want to go in and train, but you can't make it to the Olympics if you don't train!
See, when I went to the Olympics in '76, the gymnastics people knew that I was good, but everybody else, after I won, everybody was like, 'Where's she coming from? Who is she? What is Romania?'
Above all, you have to love what you are doing. You cannot fake passion. If you love it you can fight through the rough times and enjoy the good times.
When I was 3 my parents put me in gymnastics because I was a bundle of energy and they just didn't know what to do with me! They put me in a Tots class and I just fell in love with it.
When I look back, I am happy that my mum took me to the gymnastics club. I didn't join gymnastics to become a famous athlete or celebrity; it just happened - I did more than I expected, of course.
Gymnastics is a lot like life. You don't become an Elite gymnast by bickering and having a negative attitude. You have to be positive to get to that level.
It might have been easier to retire, to say my knee couldn't handle it and let that be that. At the same time, the prospect of not being able to compete in gymnastics anymore was heartbreaking.
I like seeing advanced acrobatics, but I also like to see more than tumbling. It's important to combine the artistry of gymnastics with the tough skills. It's called artistic gymnastics. We should stand by the name.
If you want to take it up a step and aim to become a competitive gymnast, you have to be mentally strong and prepared to take on the workload of going to the gym every day, rain or shine.
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.
Gymnastics is the type of sport where you can't take something that gives you more energy. Something may be great for the vault, but then you have the bars after it and you have to be more sedate for that.
I don't think I've ever not gotten nervous. When you work so hard for one special day or routine, you want to perform it better than you ever have. We always say at our gym, If you lose the nerves, you lose the sport.
And we realized that it was kind of a starting point for gymnastics, to go professional, and also to just get a lot more of the audiences in the arenas on the off years, in the years that we're not in the Olympics.
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.
There are parents, siblings, teachers and friends, but counting on them to motivate you isn't fair. They've all got their own lives, and while the may be able to help you out, if you can motivate yourself, then you're golden.
Every year I just kept going back to gymnastics, but I didn't start out training 10 hours a day. When I turned 10 or 11, I got more serious and I focused a lot on making it to the elite level, and from there I just kept going.
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.