I hope that as a professional snowboarder, Olympian, and now, a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics, I will be able to change perceptions about people with intellectual disabilities.
The Olympics are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I’ve worked so hard to get this far.
If skating got into the Olympics, I would be tempted to hold off on shredding for a year and just skate, to make that my new goal. In that sport, I’m still the underdog.
I have learned from the first Olympics, of course. When I went to my first Olympic Games, I experienced all of the pressure and was able to win the gold medal. I try not to feel the pressure, and I try not to be nervous when I am on the ice and when I compete.
It does matter that it’s the Olympics. I just did it my way. I’m not a martyr, and I’m not a do-gooder. I just want to go out and rock. And man, I rocked here.
The ultimate dream of an athlete is to compete in the Olympics. For us athletes, that is the zenith. There is nothing beyond that.
For me, I wouldn’t mind if I never did another Olympics; nothing can beat London. The setting, the support, the military people. From start to finish, it was such fun. I had the most amazing time.
I came from a remote village, I didn’t know what running was, or the Olympics.
My first Olympics was Munich in 1972. I am better now than I was then, in knowledge and experience. The age of top riders generally tends to be older than in other sports because it takes a lot of time to be consistent.
There was no professional basketball for me in the United States when I was in grade school and middle school. I could look to the Olympics and college basketball, but that was only on TV for the Final Four.
At the Olympics, I’m representing the United States as well as the town and people who helped shape me.
We make two mistakes about the ancient world. One is to assume they were better than us – that, for instance, the ancient Olympics didn’t involve money-making. The opposite mistake, and just as common, is to think our Olympics are much more civilised than ancient sporting competitions. Neither is true.
I’d like my children to learn that anything is possible if you put your mind to it, and that when you make a decision to do something like pursuing the Olympics, like I have, it needs to be a family affair.
My favorite part of the Olympics was the flag raising and seeing my family there.
The Olympics have their own unique atmosphere and energy. People might say it’s just the same as any other competition, but don’t kid yourself. There’s a hunger for victory.
I was ready in 2008 for the Olympic Games but unfortunately I missed the Kenyan trials with a thigh injury. I watched those Olympics but it was tough to watch. But it was good in the end because a Kenyan, Wilfred Bungei, was the champion.
It’s said that Norwegians are born with skis for our legs. That’s why we always win the Olympics.
I think the Olympics are a time for the world to come together and put aside differences, but we’re also coming to represent ourselves, our communities, and our countries, so I think it’s important to stand up and be a voice.
Rio will have to look after the legacy of infrastructure. But it’s unclear who will run the sports centres after the Olympics.
It was pretty extensive – we worked out 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 3 months, which I think is more than anybody in the Olympics. I thought well I don’t need this, the girls need it, but it was a gift.
She said I did good and I think she was happy with what I did. She just wants me to get my higher Start Value vault, which I’ll be competing at Trials and, hopefully, the Olympics.
The time leading up to the 1996 Olympics was the most demanding and stressful of my career. The sport I had loved so much was slowly becoming a nightmare as I trained with Bela and Marta Karolyi the summer before the Olympics.
I have some really lofty goals that don’t even scratch upon the Olympics.
Medal in Olympics is not small thing. There is a need to develop sportsperson especially athletes from the grass-root level to win medal in Olympics. The athletes should start to develop from the school level.
Getting to the Olympics was, has always been, my swimming dream since I was 8 or 9 years old. You know, right after I started swimming it was, ‘I want to make an Olympic team. That’s where I want to be.’
I don’t know how many people really knew who I was before the Olympics and that’s the fun thing of the Olympics – you get to know someone who captures your heart, hopefully.
The Olympics are only once every four years, so you have to take advantage of all your opportunities, both to be an inspiration to people and help support your sponsors who help you.
I got a bronze medal and I can’t complain about that, the only African-American to get a medal in the Winter Olympics.
During the time of Olympics I felt very lonely. Nobody was there at my side, to guide me or attend to my needs. In the Olympic village I had to travel alone up to the mess and competition ground as well as to the practice ground.
I had trouble finding my next goal after winning a gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics, but the interest of the public and my fans in me got even bigger. I wanted to get away from the pressure, even for a single day.
What our generation hopefully is doing is not believing in that so-called bad luck that Canada has with figure skating at the Olympics.
It’s important that the Olympics are motivating to young people and inspiring to all, and the only way to do that is to ensure clean performances, free of cheating.
I’m going to keep living my life the way I’ve been living my life, and nothing is going to change that even if the Olympics are coming up.
I made history here by landing the first triple axel for a U.S. lady, third at the Olympics, and that’s a big deal.
My teammates and I are best known for our penalty kick victory against China to win the 1999 Women’s World Cup. But a lot of people don’t realize that when we were first playing soccer on the Women’s National Team, the Women’s World Cup didn’t exist. In fact, Women’s Soccer wasn’t even in the Olympics.
Beijing’s Olympics were very grand – they were trying to throw a party for the world, but the hosts didn’t enjoy it. The government didn’t care about people’s feelings because it was trying to create an image.
Women’s combat sports have been on a good run in the United States. Claressa Shields won a gold medal in women’s boxing at the London Olympics in 2012, when it became a medal sport. American women won medals in taekwondo and judo as well.
Walking in the opening ceremony and just being part of the Olympics is so special and it’s something to cherish forever.
I’m going into my first Olympics, whereas people I’m racing against are going into their third and fourth and probably last Olympics. So there’s more pressure on them to perform. I’ve still got a whole future ahead of me. I am not even the Olympic champ.
I am playing the Olympics for my country. I know how hard I worked.
In Montreal, I kept thinking, ‘Pay attention: this is the Olympics! It only happens once every four years!’
Chicago is a fantastic city, and I can easily see the Olympics setting themselves right here in Chicago.
I am a freestyle mogul skier who, on February 13, became the first American to win a gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
It’s – I mean, the Olympics, what is it? It’s an international competition to foster friendship and – and competition across – across the planet, and I think that’s exactly what the International Space Station is.
America’s first Olympics may have been its worst, or at least its most bizarre.
You work for years and years to make the Olympics, then something goes wrong and it’s all gone. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still make your mark in another way. Losing in the Olympic Trials made me that much hungrier to become a world champion as a pro.
For our team leotards, we get about ten to choose from to actually compete in at the Olympics.
The Emmy that I lost, and I can’t remember his name, I lost to the man who did the Olympics. So, it was great to lose to him. It’s the Olympics.
Jerry Sloan was a guy that I always respected, but I thought he was mean. Like, he was a guy that was just no nonsense. When coach and I got closer during the Olympics, I said, ‘Coach, I always just thought you were this mean guy, but it was really nice to get to know you and your family.’
You know, beating Rafa, it was great experience I had in Olympics.
You want to do Olympics just like you do a pro football game or a basketball game? Be my guest. Watch it all fade away.
With golf becoming part of the Olympics now, it is even more imperative that more of the middle class get access to the sport.
I didn’t know about competition or the Olympics until Peggy Fleming won in 1968. My mother looked after all of the competition stuff. I just skated. I didn’t really love competition, but that was the only way to get better. You’d see more talent.
Since the Rio Olympics, the expectations are always high, and the responsibilities are also high. I am used to it now. You have to keep going and keep working hard.
I remember some people after the Olympics that had no idea about horses would ask, ‘Do you do that with the horse, or does the horse do it by itself?’ I think the fact that you can make it look like you are doing nothing is a real talent. And it is such a massive reward at the end of it.
