Opting for gold shoes could have been considered downright cocky, but I was confident and never doubted my ability to deliver gold medals to match my shimmering footwear.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I was blessed with a long career where I won gold medals for myself and my country. Nothing stands out as a disappointment.
If I bring back only one gold people are going to say it's a disappointment. But not too many of them own an Olympic gold medal so if I get one I'm going to be happy.
When you're expected to win and you have the press saying that you are going to win the Olympic gold medal, and you're the only sure thing in the Olympics, it can undermine your confidence.
Everybody has to deal with tough times. A gold medal doesn't make you immune to that. A skater is used to falling down and getting up again.
I didn't want people to think of me as someone who wasn't impressed with a silver medal, because obviously that's a huge accomplishment, and I was so happy. It was more about me just being not impressed with falling at the Olympics in my last event.
I wasn't really expecting me to win the gold in this race. To get another medal for myself and for the U.S. was a pretty good thing to happen, I'd say.
The most outrageous shoe that I had to do was a shoe where the person gave me stones - precious stones - and say that I could do anything with precious stones.
I spend a lot on shoes, but my favourite shoes I've had for 16 years: a pair of black Michel Perry ankle boots with gold lining.
People think the gold medal is yours and they say you're going to win - but they have no idea how hard it is. People aren't doing it negatively - they're mostly lovely and they really do want you to win - but they don't understand the difficulty and intensity of competition.
I've never been cocky. Even right now I don't like to talk about the Olympics.