The highlight of my career? The Olympics, of course.

When the rules of judging skating in international competition changed in 2004 with the goal of making judging more transparent, one of the consequences was the rewarding of skaters who attempt more challenging technical elements in the pursuit of ever more points.

Obviously, the competition at an Olympics, the emotions are running high, and the stakes are higher for these athletes, so it does bring an incredible, palpable excitement and emotion into the building.

It means a lot to be an Olympian. I'm obviously so grateful and feel so lucky I was able to achieve my dream of winning an Olympic gold medal.

Maybe I'm the kind of athlete who absorbs the atmosphere instead of trying to block it out.

My parents gave up on their dreams in sports because they were athletes, and they had me at such an early age. I didn't want to do that.

I went to Duke, and I stayed at Duke all four years because I wanted as many years under Coach K's tutelage as I could get. I think every year you get with him, the more it's going help you for basketball and life. So I wanted to play for him as long as I could.

The basis of my confidence is that I wasn't a talented player. I was a talented human being. At school, I always had good figures. I was the captain of all my football teams. I studied physical education at the Academy, so I learned to analyse, to observe, and to take decisions.