Shannon Miller Quotations

When I go in to compete, whether it's gymnastics or anything else, I do my own thing. I compete with myself.

Gymnastics uses every single part of your body, every little tiny muscle that you never even knew.

I think it's really important to look at the big picture instead of just one competition

In gymnastics, you have to be perfect every step along the way.

It's amazing to me that they're cutting physical education programs in the school systems

Everyone has obstacles, and you're not going to have the right answer or do the right thing every single time.

At the Olympics, you there to do a job. I feel you should take it seriously. You should be respectful. You are putting on the red-white-and-blue and going out there to perform for your country.

I'm not fascinated by one particular case, but by knowledge that I had no idea was out there.

There's never going to be a system that is fair to everyone

Other people may not have had high expectations for me... but I had high expectations for myself.

In gymnastics, the longest routine you do is a minute and a half, and that's pretty tough to get through

I love performing in front of an audience and seeing smiles on the kids' faces.

I want to bring more gymnastics on television.

Floor exercise, the longest you run is two or three steps. In the vault, it's not a whole lot more than that.

I can now successfully drive a stick. That's a huge accomplishment.

I got into law school to supplement my business background. I'm not planning to practice law.

I was always athletic and I could do a lot of things

I'm a competitor. I really enjoyed the race more than just going out and running to run

I'm an athlete rep, so I'll be available if they need me for anything

It's been really good to have a goal and go after it. That feels good

The rate of childhood obesity is just ridiculous. Anytime I can get involved with teaching them how to get physical exercise, I want to help in any way possible

Gymnastics is the type of sport where you can't take something that gives you more energy. Something may be great for the vault, but then you have the bars after it and you have to be more sedate for that.

When you grow up on camera and in the public eye, you feel you have to put forth this image. I just took that to the extreme and there was a lot of pressure on me

Charles Barkley, I used to watch him growing up. Then I met him. He was a big teddy bear.

I don't think I have the mileage on me to really complain of any injuries yet.

At an Olympics Game, you want to enjoy it, especially if you know it's going to be your last one.

We have to get jobs to support ourselves. We can't sit around for six months like it's vacation.

(The referees) made a call that put us on penalty-kill and our whole team knew that we shouldn't be on penalty-kill. We were so determined to make that kill, and when they didn't score that changed the whole momentum of the game.

She's got big-game experience. She's a little bit older and has maturity on and off the ice.

My undergraduate degree is in business, so I'm trying to get a bit of a background before I go in.

One of the main goals of D.I. is teamwork. We really talk about this often during our practices. I always tell them to have fun and show everyone else how you all can shine in your very own way too.

Gymnastics has helped me so much, how to be dedicated to something, how to work hard to acheive your goals, also to be organized, and how to try and balance my life out. I think it's helped me in school too,because it's kept me organized and I'm always striving for a goal.

I already do what I love doing, so it's more progressing toward getting more involved in the things that I'm already involved in. Maybe I might branch out into other areas but I don't know that there's going to be this sudden change in what I'm going to do because a lot of it I already am fortunate enough to get to do.

I take a totally different approach to a lot of things now, school and my social life come before gym in a lot of ways, although I know that I still need to keep in shape, and stay healthy enough so that I can keep competing, and keep doing the shows, but it's not my whole life right now.

I think the biggest thing for me was that it showed me there are a lot of other ways that I can continue in this sport even past competition days. That's really what this last 10 years has been about for me - finding myself and what I want to do after the Olympics, and finding ways to stay involved with the sport that I love.

Marin is one of those silent leaders who lead just through sheer work ethic and by example.

I was probably pretty frustrating to work with, because if I ever did anything wrong, I would just start crying. And it wouldn't be because I was hurt or anything like that, or because I didn't want to be there, I love gymnastics, but it was because I was such a perfectionist that anything I did wrong, you know, it just tore me up, and Steve dealt with that really well.

We really tried to find where we had some duplication of services. It was one of our lesser-used facilities.

We do have depth. We need team chemistry and discipline and tonight it went in. I attribute that to chemistry.

I've been around long enough to know that if you beat them 8-0, its extremely difficult to get the team to be focused the next night. And given the last couple of weeks ...

Ten years ago people were asking me to do just about anything and everything. It's one thing to get offered a job but it's another to be able to actually do the job. I guess that's kind of what my thinking is. It'd be great to get offered something, but I want to be sure that I'm able to do it and do it well.

They get to miss a day of school for the trip. They are very excited about that. It should be a fun weekend and we really wanted to reward the boys for all of the hard work they have done.

It was a very similar situation. It was players that were unhappy and causing problems (in 2002). As a coach, you try to carry them as long as you can. There comes a point where you are no longer responsible to carry everyone.

Everyone here has always treated me like thier daughter. It doesn't matter who it is, and it was even before I won Olympic medals, it was, you know, when I was growing up, they knew I had a goal, they knew I had a dream, and they were willing to help me in any way possible.

Sweden is on a roll. They're well coached and they really believe now is the time. And Team USA, while extremely talented, only centralized after Christmas. Canada has been centralized since June.

It was kind of a surprise that he did it when he did it, ... I think that we're both definitely ready to make that commitment.

I'm really proud of her and how she has developed. I think she has a good shot at it. She helped hold the team together. ... The other two are exceptional hockey players. So who knows.

If you're going to break down defensively, boy your keeper better be there and she was.

In some ways, it feels like it was yesterday. And then other times, it feels like it was a completely different lifetime and I have to really think to know that I actually competed there and all of that really happened.

For ourselves, we need to play great hockey and sweep this weekend.

The first line is all about speed and finesse. They'll use speed, and hands and toughness. Between those three, it's a good combination.

Charles Barkley was a big teddy bear.

For the most part I'll probably do floor exercise and balance beam. Those are the two things that I do.

I share Len Saunders’ concerns about childhood obesity and getting kids to be active beginning at an early age.

There's not a whole lot of events out there on television, especially in the years between Olympic Games.

I'm used to short distances and short bursts of energy; it was just fastest

I thought about running a marathon a long time ago, but I'm just not a runner

I'm coming up on 30. There are other things that I want to pursue outside of just performing

I will be talking with gymnasts from some of the other countries. I will be getting a feel for what they're thinking and what they're doing. It should be a really great meet

Go into the sport because you have fun doing it, not because of 'what ifs' and dreams of gold medals. That way, no matter what happens, you win.

Goals have to be realistic and flexible.

There are parents, siblings, teachers and friends, but counting on them to motivate you isn't fair. They've all got their own lives, and while the may be able to help you out, if you can motivate yourself, then you're golden.

I think that to be a competitive athlete, you have to be goal-oriented.

We typically don't choose our athletes until about a month prior to the Games because anything can happen.

And we realized that it was kind of a starting point for gymnastics, to go professional, and also to just get a lot more of the audiences in the arenas on the off years, in the years that we're not in the Olympics.

There is always going to be a reason why you can't do something; your job is to constantly look for the reasons why you can achieve your dreams.

...there are no limits on your dreams if you're willing to work for it

...above all, you have to love what you are doing. You cannot fake passion. If you love it you can fight through the rough times and enjoy the good times.

If you want to take it up a step and aim to become a competitive gymnast, you have to be mentally strong and prepared to take on the workload of going to the gym every day, rain or shine.

I don't believe that there's anyone in the world without a competitive bone in their body.

You have to remember that no matter how big your goals or how many you have, there are going to be times when you miss by a little bit. You have to be realistic and flexible. One reason I have so many smaller goals is that even if my big goals don't happen, I've still achieved so much along the way, I don't feel the loss.

If you can't handle all the injuries and scars, choose a less demanding sport.

So if you think being thin is enough to succeed in gymnastics, you're wrong.

It's important to have a plan, a big picture. You can deviate from it or change it completely, but it gives you something to work for.

Everyone gets scared, and everyone falls. The key is to get right back up and try again.

Gymnastics is a lot like life. You don't become an Elite gymnast by bickering and having a negative attitude. You have to be positive to get to that level.

Face each day with the expectation of achieving good, rather than the dread of falling short.

Doing your best is more important than being the best.