Now I had won the gold medal. But it didn't mean anything, because I didn't have the right color skin.

There was always just that challenge of getting better, and every year having a new goal and getting a step closer to the ultimate dream. I really didn’t have the dream of the Olympics until I was maybe in middle school. And, at that point, it started to get a little harder. My life centered around skating—training before and after school. It was a huge time commitment for me and my family.

The silver medals I won in Salt Lake City didn’t give me anything. Last year I set myself the goal of winning the World Cup and lining up a long series of wins. It was my private challenge.

I began to feel like I’d failed if I didn’t win a medal, and I lost that feeling of excitement I felt when I first began.

I never felt outside pressure. I knew what I wanted to accomplish, and I knew how much work it took to achieve those goals. I then put in the work and trusted in it. Besides, the expectations I placed on myself were higher than what anyone expected from me.

If you’re not enough before the gold medal, you won’t be enough with it.

I trained hard. I spent the summer on a glacier. I trained with two-legged skiers but there weren't as many opportunities back then to compare myself to the other competitors, so I didn't know how I would do."

I never set out to have a long career in volleyball. I didn’t even know the professional world existed when I started.

I never had any ambition other than to go to sea.

Nothing is impossible. I was hoping for some better results after securing the medal

When thou was a player, I didn't expect my teammates to play the way I did. I did expect them to work hard hard every day and get better. And I never learned anything by losing.

I think, if I was an Olympic athlete, I would rather come in last than win the silver... if you think about it. Y'know, you win the gold, you feel good; you win the bronze, you think "Well, at least I got something." But you win that silver, that's like: "Congratulations! You... almost won." "Of all the losers, you came in first... of that group." "You're the number one... loser." "No one lost... ahead of you."

Nothing worth doing ever, ever, ever came easy.

To go from the point that I didn’t imagine meeting these people to the point where someday I hold a medal myself — I just couldn’t imagine that this would come true.