When I was little, I had never really expected to win such a big competition. For a long time, just skating in the Olympics had been my goal because not many Koreans had done it.
Skating everywhere is unpredictable, no amount of money or facilities is going to create a skating star. You have to have a skater who is dedicated, passionate, and willing to learn.
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 remember my first World Championships. I got zero turns, and I got turned multiple times, and I was still a World Champion.
My family and parents were very influential in my skating career.
The skating community is very fickle. And with me, they're especially fickle for whatever reason. Maybe I bring it on myself, but if you don't prove yourself and you don't skate consistently, then they can very easily write you off and bring somebody from behind you and put them in your place.
My skating career won't last forever.
Skating was put on the map, supposedly from me Everybody made a life and a livelihood, um, except me.
It is great to be a part of the whole skating family, and it makes me feel ecstatic that my name will be among the greats of the sport.
I'm the baby for sure. My siblings are looking out for me, making sure I'm not doing something stupid. They are making sure my head is set straight and that I'm a good person outside of skating and inside of it, too.
Kat and I were in our 20s when we won in '88. Our personalities were already established. We were ready to move on to a life of professional skating.
I think what every skater dreams of is not only skating the best program they can possibly skate, but, y'know, having the crowd roar at the end, and it was just so loud I couldn't even hear my music.
