Sometimes the best coaching advice you can get is simple acknowledgement that there's nothing else you could have done.
I savored my time on top of the podium by watching the American flag rise up out of the crowd as the anthem played, thinking about how every single second of training I've done was for this minute and how many people played a role in my achievement.
Because we always have to wear a uniform to compete, my teammates and I look the exact same. My belt is the only accessory that I get to choose. I usually wear a yellow cloth belt with cherries or a leather belt with a beautiful tree buckle that I got at a thrift store.
I don't recall ever desiring to go as fast as possible.
Unfortunately, my beauty regime is almost nonexistent when I am training.
An Olympic gold medal is something that almost seems like a fantasy. Yes, of course I want it, since I was a little kid, before I even knew what the World Cup tour was.
In my personal life, I really like the look of vests. I wear fitted, business ones, and perfectly preppy sweater vests that I can knit myself.
I have this dream of what I ultimately want my life to be like, and it involves a lot of quaint activities like cooking and canoeing and camping and hiking.
I am a freestyle mogul skier who, on February 13, became the first American to win a gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
On television, I have watched countless athletes from different countries, sports and Olympics stand proudly at the top of the podium and shed tears. They symbolized the Olympics for me because Olympic medals represent all of the hard work and sacrifices made by the athletes as well as the people who helped them reach the top of their sports.
On the actual competition days, you get about three or four hours of physical exertion - between an hour-long warm-up, recovery in-between runs, the training runs, and then the runs themselves.
