During my first Olympics in 1980, at the age of 23, I was physically in great condition but mentally too inexperienced to cope comfortably in the pressure cooker of an Olympic year.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The Olympics were the most pressure I've ever felt.
Winning the Olympics was an amazing feeling, but afterwards, it was a bit like, 'What do I do now?' So I lost a bit of motivation going back into training and competitions; I had so much pressure on me. I kept thinking, 'I'm the Olympic champion. I can't lose' - being only 19 and having to deal with all that pressure.
When you get to an event like the Olympic Games, you can put too much pressure on yourself.
I think God has it written down for me, that without training and working hard you will never achieve desired results. All three times I have had to toil my way into the Olympics. Talking about pressure, well that is something you have to learn to deal with in sports.
The time leading up to the 1996 Olympics was the most demanding and stressful of my career. The sport I had loved so much was slowly becoming a nightmare as I trained with Bela and Marta Karolyi the summer before the Olympics.
And in nineteen seventy two I almost wasn't, on the team, but I knew about it just before Olympic Games for three months before this why this is was not very good for me. I'd been ready to go, you know.
It sounds funny, but the 2008 Olympics were something that just kind of happened, and I was lucky they came at a point when I was uninjured and well prepared. As a gymnast, you can't ask for much more.
No one put pressure on me to go to the Olympics; once I'd got the qualifying mark, I just couldn't say no.
Immediately after the Olympics, I was pretty fatigued.
The Olympics was always my be-all and end-all, so when I won, it was the best feeling in the world. But I didn't realise how much it would affect me mentally. All that pressure. I was only 19; I still didn't know everything about taekwondo, I wasn't experienced. I just did amazing on that day and won.
No opposing quotes found.