The Olympics are every four years and I think every athlete who competes in the Olympics wants the gold medal, and I think that's what the World Cup is for a rugby player - it's the gold medal.
We're talking about the Olympics. We're talking about trying to win the gold medal. All of these things can be overwhelming. But regardless of whether I win a gold medal or never compete again, I just have to trust that God has a plan for my life and I'm called to be His representative through the sport and outside of the sport.
From the time I started boxing, my dream was to win an Olympic gold medal. At 10, I can't say I knew how big the Olympics are. I just knew that every kid in the gym wanted to win an Olympic gold medal. Every kid in every gym probably wants to win an Olympic gold medal.
Because winning a gold medal had been a dream of mine since a young age, I needed to empty my mind during the preparation for the Olympics by telling myself that it would be OK not to win a gold medal.
Winning the 400 meters gold at the pre-Olympics gave me a little confidence. I thought I could win a medal if I tried.
Winning the 2012 bronze medal was magnificent, but I would love to win a gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
I feel like at the Olympics I gave the best performance of my life and I wasn't rewarded for that as an athlete. Yes, my fans and my mom were happy about it, but I didn't win that gold medal.
When Olympic decathlon gold medalist Bruce Jenner asked a roomful of Olympic hopefuls if they had a list of written goals, every one raised their hands. When he asked how many of them had that list with them right that moment, only one person raised their hand. That person was Dan O'Brien. And it was Dan O'Brien who went on to win the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Don't underestimate the power of setting goals and constantly reviewing them.
Through everything I've gone through- and I've been everywhere, at the top of the world, in jail, hung over drunk - I never gave up my dream of winning a gold medal in the Olympics.
I'm glad to be partnered with Orgullosa because I feel that now that I'm able to win a gold medal at the Olympics, win a silver medal, I feel little girls will be able to look up to me, and Hispanics will kind of rise a little more.
The Olympics is not for tennis and tennis does not need the Olympics. It is not my goal in life to win a gold medal.
I never have prayed to win a gold medal at Olympics and never will. The Lord is my Shepard and I shall not want. May His will be done.
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.
A lot of guys get out of wrestling immediately after winning a gold medal. Every time another Olympics comes around, it's always a bunch of fresh faces. For me, to win an Olympic gold and have a chance to win another would be huge for our sport.
One thing I learned from the '88 Olympics: It's not a question of if they can screw you over: it's a question of if they will. It's not the gold medal they took away from me. The medal doesn't mean anything. It's that they said I lost. That experience is well and alive in my mind.
I remember before the Olympics, I was asked, 'What do you think you're going to do in the Olympics?' and I said, 'I'm hoping I'm going to win a medal, and, if possible, it's going to be a gold one.'