I know that I am the kind of person that gets a little bit more nervous than other skaters, but that's because I care for my skating very much. I take all my emotions with me. I can't go out and say 'Now, this is just my job.' I really care.
When a skater steps on the ice to compete, the nerves, the tension, and sheer suspense of that moment make for great drama.
There is a popular fallacy that falling down is the mark of a poor skater. But the truth is that when one stops falling, he has probably stopped improving.
I have great artistry, I can spin well, I have good footwork, and I can jump. I can do the quad jump, and I've done it multiple times in competition. It's definitely a jump that I have in my arsenal. I like to think of myself as the complete skater.
I've been an athlete all my life. I was a competitive figure skater, and then when I realized skating was not an adult sport I took up tennis and played that quite seriously from the time I was about 18.
I used to skate a lot when I was a kid. I loved it and was quite good. When I came back to London in around '85, I got really into skating again. But at the time, it had no influence from hip-hop. It was just thrash rock, hardcore rock, and skulls and all black - that kind of style. In Japan, the skaters were also strictly into rock culture, too, but I was coming from the hip-hop side, so for a while it was difficult to mix both interests.
I can relate to anyone. I can hang out with stoners, skaters, surfers, stockbrokers, lawyers, athletes, rappers. I feel I can hang out with any group of people and find common ground to talk with them.
Many people are afraid to fail, so they don't try. They may dream, talk, and even plan, but they don't take that critical step of putting their money and their effort on the line. To succeed in business, you must take risks. Even if you fail, that's how you learn. There has never been, and will never be, an Olympic skater who didn't fall on the ice.
I liked the idea of a self-contained, endless pursuit of perfection. But I have a problem with perfection. I don't think perfection is very artful. But there's something I liked about the image of a skater going in this endless twisted circle that doesn't have any real endpoint. So the object is not to stop or arrive anywhere; it's just to make this thing as beautiful as they can.
I couldn't beat people with my strength; I don't have a hard shot; I'm not the quickest skater in the league. My eyes and my mind have to do most of the work.
One of the unique aspects of rowing is that novices strive to perfect the same motions as Olympic contenders. Few other sports can make this claim. In figure skating, for instance, the novice practices only simple moves. After years of training, the skater then proceeds to the jumps and spins that make up an elite skater's program. But the novice rower, from day one, strives to duplicate a motion that he'll still be doing on the day of the Olympic finals.
Doing shows is always a side of skating that I've loved, it's the performing. I get to do that without the pressure, it's always fun between the skaters and the preparation, the show is always so much fun.
I did not want to be a Champion growing up, just a fast skater.
That's what really makes great skating competitions. When you have two top skaters in good form giving superb performances.
I used to make up stuff in my bio all the time, that I used to be a professional ice-skater and stuff like that. I found it so inspirational. Why not make myself cooler than I am?
Pairs skating and singles are two different things. Although some skaters have achieved this successfully, it is a very difficult transition. You’re looking at double work.
I am a figure skater, which helps me appreciate Newton's theory of mechanics.
I still go through stages of wanting to try other trades. When I was young I thought I'd be a magician. And then a cartoonist. Or a professional roller-skater. But there wasn't much support for those on career day.
The skaters a lot of times do their own hair and makeup before they compete. That was always kind of a ritual...that calming, quiet time where you can just do your hair and makeup. And then I would always lace up my right skate before my left one.
All those hours spent alone on the rink is where a skater's strength comes from. That's where a standing ovation starts and if you don't want to be there, it is going to show. Nothing you dreamed about is going to happen if you forget why you started in the first place. You have to skate with you heart. Before anyone can believe in you, you have to believe in yourself.
My goal, my dream has already come true. Every kid's dream is to become a pro skater, you know? Not only have I become a pro skater, but to me personally, I ride for the best sponsors there are. That's even more than I ever expected... I didn't skate to please everyone else. I started skating because I love to skate. you gotta watch out because there will come a point where you'll forget that.
I didn't want to be the sissy figure skater, you know.
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