There's a lot of skaters that I look up to, and I think my biggest skating role models were the two Russian competitors at the 2002 Olympic games in Salt Lake City. They really motivated me to follow my passion in skating, and it really blossomed from there.
I remember watching the 2002 Olympic Games and watching the men's event. I just started figure skating, and I remember thinking how cool it would be to be there.
...Competitive Skaters must be prepared for a lot of work, challenges, self-discipline, and motivation. The desire must be there, but more importantly, your love for the sport.
I roller skated when I was younger, but when you're on a track that's slanted and you're with other people all skating in a pack, it's a whole different sport.
Ever since I was a younger skater, I've been working my way to these big jumps.
I would love nothing more than to become a professional ice skater, but I would rather do it privately.
I watch a lot of professional skating, and I am really looking forward to going to nationals.
After I won the Olympics, like any gold medalist, I did feel some emptiness in my heart. I did think about coming back to the ice for a long time. What motivated me is skating is something I am best at and I love the most. So I want to give it one more try.
Figure skating is an unlikely Olympic event but its good television. It's sort of a combination of gymnastics and ballet. A little sexy too which doesn't hurt.
I remember my first World Championships. I got zero turns, and I got turned multiple times, and I was still a World Champion.
Largely, I began skating because I wanted stuff to do outside of school. My mom decided to put me into figure skating.
When a skater steps on the ice to compete, the nerves, the tension, and sheer suspense of that moment make for great drama.
I skate all the time, but it's silly for me to do contests when MTV is giving me a boatload of money.
When I was a kid, we lived in Italy, which isn't really known for figure skating. I think that's why I excelled so well. I spent a lot of my high school years training.
I've always wanted to skate. If and when I decide to retire... I want to perform. I want to be on the ice. I want to continue contributing to the sport. I feel like I still have a lot to offer.
Triples are hard. Triple axel is just not my jump. Quads are really my thing.
I want to be the first lady to land a quadruple jump in competition. As I grow older, I know that my skating style will develop and mature.
I would recommend anybody who gets a chance to see short track skating, make it a point to go out there when Apolo is skating because you won't see anybody better.
As an ice dancer, we take our on-ice relationships so seriously, and that's really the way we like to go about it.
Figure skating is theatrical. It's artistic. It's elegant. It's extremely athletic. And there's a very specific audience for that.
The Grand Prix Final is an opportunity for me to go out and experience new jumping passes in competition. I put in a triple loop-half loop-triple Salchow in the second of the program. It's a very difficult jumping pass so this is a chance for me to try out the new elements and the adjusted jumping layout to get prepared for nationals.
That's what amateur skating is about, technical expertise, and it should always stay that way.
That's what really makes great skating competitions. When you have two top skaters in good form giving superb performances.
Probably the '86 nationals. That was my first real national title and first real statement I ever made in figure skating, and my life changed after I returned.
I started ice-skating when I was about 12 or 13 and I was selected in the Australian team for ice hockey. I met my wife at St Moritz Ice Skating about 1955.
