Aly Raisman Quotes

Growing up with brothers, I've always been a very competitive person and also very involved in sports. So when I was younger, whatever sport I was involved in, I wanted to go to the Olympics for that!

As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.

But inside of me I knew that the Olympics were still there. I was still young enough. I knew that once I transitioned out of hockey, it would be really hard to go back.

The incentive of a medal at the biggest sporting arena in the world is what drives me. Before I hang my gloves, I want to win the Olympic medal, and my performance at London will decide my future in the sport.

I really, really wanted to be an Olympian. My parents knew about this dream of mine, and they suggested I try my hand at bobsled. They'd seen it on TV at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002 and thought it would be a good sport for me.

Certainly, when I started bobsledding I didn't think of being in the Olympics some day.

A goal of making it to the Olympic Games has motivated me to work very hard in my sport.

The Olympics are what I work for. They're why I spend so much time in the gym.

If I don't feel the same hunger as I once did then I definitely shouldn't box any more.

Playing football was like being trapped in a rhythm, and my whole career was like that. You have very little time to switch off.

From a personal point of view I want some medals because that is what you aim for when you start out playing.

For me, I've lived a life as an athlete.

As a youngster, I enjoyed sport and my ambition was to be a great sportsman.

It was a dream of mine to be an Olympic champion but not a lifelong goal.

I missed being considered an athlete and having that competitive drive, and missed having something to work for every day. I'd taken two and a half years away from the sport and was out of shape. I wanted to get back to where I was in 2008.

I know that I was put on this planet to be an athlete.

When I started this I wanted to get back in the pool, I wanted to race and I wanted to go to the Olympics. I still want to do all of those things.

I think four Olympics is probably enough. Five Olympics is a long time, but there's nothing wrong with that if I'm into it and I'm healthy and my priorities can fit around that.

I definitely have two Olympics in me; I don't know about three Olympics.

When I was a junior and an up-and-coming athlete, I don't think I looked to anyone for inspiration. I was so busy trying to improve myself and learning these new events and learning about the decathlon in general that I didn't really have time to focus on anyone else.

A college athlete is going to be competitive. You don't get to that level if you're not.

I live to be in these matches.

To be an Olympic athlete is an honour, a privilege. They're so respected. This is my dream. I have to do this.

A football player at any level must set goals.

Once I really understood what skating was and what the Olympic really entailed, I knew that's what I wanted to do: I wanted to be there; I wanted to represent the U.S.