A Quote by Damian Lillard

I started working with Special Olympics when I was 17 years old. I'll never forget the first time I did it: I was at Weber State, and it was the summer before I started school. We have to get up in the morning and do this Special Olympics camp.
Eleven years old is not an early age to set your sight on the Olympics for a gymnast, because we normally peak in high school. I first qualified for the Olympics team during my sophomore year in high school, when I was 15 years old.
I never planned to be at the height of my career when I was 30 years old and going to my fourth Olympics. I watched the 1998 Olympics when I was 14 years old. That's what I wanted to do with my life. I thought I might have a shot at three Olympics max. This is way beyond the parameters of what I set out to do.
It's empowering and uplifting to hear the Special Olympics athletes share their journey and what's helped them to get to where they are today. I had no idea how much I'd learn and grow by taking part in Special Olympics. It's made me think about my own journey and what's important in life.
I have been so inspired by the Special Olympics athletes that I have been so fortunate to meet, and I am excited to continue my involvement in the Special Olympics Movement.
I started Little Athletics when I was five years old, but my Olympics dream started when I was 10 years old.
I actually met one of my business partners [Neal Dodson] at the Governor's School summer program, so we've known each other since we were 15 and 16 years old, and we both ended up at Carnegie Mellon together. He started working for a producer out of school after a few years, and then we started the company together.
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.
When I was 5 years old, I told my grandmother I was going to play hockey in the Olympics. Fifteen years later, I competed in my first Olympics.
When I watch the Olympics I become such an emotional wreck. I've always loved the Olympics, be it the summer or the winter Olympics.
I remember being glued to the TV as I watched the Olympics as a kid. There was something so magical, almost otherworldly, about the Olympics. My favorite part was that moment right before it all started. The moment where the athlete would stand up ready to face whatever lay ahead.
I personally hated working out when I first started, but then I noticed it was the one thing I did for myself. It gave me more energy and made me feel more confident. I started rolling with it. I love going for jogs and walks in the morning with my cousin. Sometimes we do sunrise walks where we'll be up before the sun comes up and by the time it does we're up and going. It's really nice. I also started training MMA, mixed martial arts to keep it fun. It's stress relieving.
I was 12 years old and in summer camp. I started a company called Aardvark Industries, which provided basic services to camp counselors.
At my first Olympics, I didn't have a contract, and I wasn't making any money. After my first Olympics, I was working at 24 Hour Fitness at the front desk. I would go to practice in the morning, run home, shower, grab some food and then go straight to work. I didn't get off of work until 10 or 11 o'clock at night.
I informed the team three years before the Olympics that I was retiring from indoor. It's not as if I left six months before the Olympics and left them with a gaping hole to fill. I retired in July of '89. The Olympics were July of '92.
It was all kind of a whirlwind at the beginning. I didn't really realize that I had a special gift from God. It was probably towards the end of high school in my senior year when things really started to come together and I realized that I had more potential and that I could do this as a career and that the Olympics were a possibility.
It eventually ends, and that's what I think a lot of athletes forget. It's 10 years after the Olympics, and you won the Olympics, and that's great, but no one cares.
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