My dad worked several jobs to pay for my expense in skating.
That's a hard question, because I started skating when I was three, so I don't really remember life before it, and I don't know what it is like not to work hard at something.
Figure skating is theatrical. It's artistic. It's elegant. It's extremely athletic. And there's a very specific audience for that.
Acting is easier than skating in a way and harder in other aspects. In skating, you get one chance, and with acting you get to do it over and over.
When I was younger, I always dreamed of being a legend, to be remembered in figure skating.
I love snowboarding, but I would never want to do it competitively or at a professional level. Snowboarding is a spawn of skating, and skating is my passion.
I burnt myself out of skating. I was ready to focus on being a mom.
I know the joy of skating on a clear cold day. I know the joy of getting off a perfect drive in golf. I know the delight of a fine meal after a long walk. These are real and wholesome, but all of them put together can not approach the thrill of ridding yourself of fear!
Figure skating is a mixture of art and sport.
Skating is tough to pick up when you are a grown up.
Even now I can't describe why I love skating so much.
Skating takes up 70 percent of my time, school about 25 percent. Having fun and talking to my friends, 5 percent. It's hard. I envy other kids a lot of things, but I get a guilt trip when I'm not training.
We're always skating to wherever the puck is going.
I just try to touch people's hearts in a way through skating, so they're not just witnessing a performance, they're feeling a performance and they're a part of it.
Tony, Stacy and Jay really looked at life completely different and that played into everything that they did, whether it was skating or with their friendships. And for the three of us, we had such a close relationship off screen, that it was so easy to have that on screen.
I'm trying to let winning the world championships settle in right now before I begin training again shortly. During the skating season, we skate on average 20 kilometres a day. On top of that, we're riding a lot and lifting a lot of weights.
Skating has given me so much that it's priceless.
In group lesson number six I think we learned how to turn backwards and then just kind of wiggle. That wasn't really skating backward, but I guess I was going in the right direction.
That's what amateur skating is about, technical expertise, and it should always stay that way.
My mother stopped working when she had my brother. She was a full time mom until I started getting heavily into ice skating lessons, and it got to the point where they really needed my mom to earn an income.
And still I'm not completely happy with my skating. I always feel I can do more and climb higher.
Skating is big in Chicago. There's a lot of hockey; a lot of the boys play hockey. And figure skating is big.
When I am skating, economics is far away. I always return refreshed and ready to carry on.
My coaches have told me my muscles and body structure are perfect for skating.
But after a few minutes of convincing myself that I really wanted to go - telling myself that I love skating and that my coach is there waiting for me - I would get up and go. And my mother would always get up and eat breakfast with me!
With Stacy, it was interesting because you know he was within all this chaos, all these different lives that were so broken and so much anger and so much frustration and their skating came out of that, their different styles came out of that.
There were no competitions on television. The first skating competition I ever remember seeing on television was the 1968 Olympics when Peggy Fleming won.
I can do the tricks and I can skate. I have great skating skills and artistry and well-choreographed programs. For me, the biggest obstacle is just bringing it all together.
Figure skating is not a hobby. It's my work, which I want to do, and do well.
Yes, I am the Olympic champion, but this is not the end of it. I want all the gold that there is out there, everything that exists in figure skating. In all events, in all competitions.
Luckily, I discovered ice skating when I was eight and a half years old. There were two wonderful ponds within walking distance of my house. After all the physical activity the summer provided, I craved movement in the cold of winter. I had no skates, so Mom stuffed socks into my brother's old ones.
When I saw the 2010 Games and speed skating, I had a change of heart. I had always dreamed of being an Olympian, and something clicked inside of me. I knew I had to move to Salt Lake City and make this dream a reality.
It was so hard to survive - moving so much, not having many friends. But I loved my skating.
As soon as I was introduced to ice speed skating, I was instantly hooked. I never thought about pursuing skating professionally; I just enjoyed doing it.
When my parents were paying for my sport, it wasn't just me out on the ice. Pretty much every dollar my mom made teaching went into my skating.
I've never really had a first date! Well, I had kind of a first date. I went out with this kid. We went ice skating, but it was not fun. It was so terrible that I told him my curfew was a lot earlier than it really was.