The medal just was an object, just a medal, and that's it. What really meant something was the blood, the sweat, the tears that went into getting that medal. I'll always have the memories of that with me.
London 2012 is all about winning a medal. Not just any medal, the gold medal.
In America with the Olympics when you not only have a medal but a gold medal all of a sudden people come out of the wood work and you're treated a little bit differently. I guess that's where my personality is, that's where I just can't get used to all this.
As I traveled from one country to another, no one knew anything about me. So I could be anybody, I could speak as I wished, act as I wished, dress as I wished
As I traveled from one country to another, no one knew anything about me. So I could be anybody, I could speak as I wished, act as I wished, dress as I wished.
I was told that there are about 900 gold medal winners in American Olympic history. When I thought about the number 900, I wondered how many kids that are influenced by a gold medal ever get to see a gold medal. What I thought was really neat was that I've already had a couple hundred kids touch my gold medal.
London was the hardest Olympic Games, and before it, I was really just hoping to win a medal, even if it was not the gold medal. At the same time, I have my next target. I am not settling for three golds in a row. I now want to try for a fourth.
And I want a gold medal more than anything. I just want a gold medal, so that's been pushing me forward.
It was always just trying to move to the next limit. I didn't think about making the major leagues - every kid has that dream, I had it, but when I was in Little League I just wanted to make the junior high team. When I was in junior high, I wanted to make the Varsity team.
I didn't even think that I could be competing for a gold medal; I was convinced I'd compete for a silver medal.
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.
I got a bronze medal and I can't complain about that, the only African-American to get a medal in the Winter Olympics.
I discovered that I wanted to be an actor back when I did my first play in junior high. I've been doing theater in junior high and high school, and I just kept feeding the fire, kept wanting to pursue acting full-on.
I was a hangover of that era where they’d say “Take off that medal! Is that a St. Christopher medal? You’re going to lose your audience with that.”
Winning the 2012 bronze medal was magnificent, but I would love to win a gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Rather than missing the medal, the overall message from across the Indian contingent was my effort proved that we can win an Olympic medal.