I would never even think about skating with somebody else. The whole reason I wanted to come back to skating was to be close to Tessa again, and to share those moments.
There're two different kinds of skating. There's the style skating, and there's the trick skating. He (Tony Hawk) does the trick skating so heavy duty, that he can overcome the style skating. There's always the chance that the style skater can come back, but the whole deal really is learning tricks.
There are always moments when I think about leaving skating, but when I think about that, I'm not very smart, and I'm not very pretty, and there's nothing else that stands out about me besides my skating.
I used to roller skate a lot in my youth on Taft Avenue, Manila. That is the reason there is always a skating area in all my SM malls. I want more people to share my love for skating.
Once I retired from skating, never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have the chance to come back to the Olympics.
As soon as I was introduced to ice speed skating, I was instantly hooked. I never thought about pursuing skating professionally; I just enjoyed doing it.
I love snowboarding, but I would never want to do it competitively or at a professional level. Snowboarding is a spawn of skating, and skating is my passion.
Largely, I began skating because I wanted stuff to do outside of school. My mom decided to put me into figure skating.
I remember my mom let me stay up late and watch Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan compete in the 1998 Olympic Games. I made paper medals and wore them the whole night. I didn't start skating until 2000, but I was so inspired by their skating that it was why I wanted to start.
I hope that people will one day look back at my skating and what I brought to the table. 'Remember when Patrick skated like this? Or remember when skating was like this?' That would be a cool legacy to leave behind.
Right now it looks like skating is done for me. I'm ready to move on. But if baseball doesn't work out and I still have that itch for skating, I may be back.
I grew up figure skating, and in figure skating there is only a handful of black people at the time figure skating with me.
One thing about skating that I don't think people focus on enough is the music factor. The music is a huge component of figure skating. It can dictate not only the choreography but the emotion. If it's not the right music it can ruin a performance.
I was really a spoiled brat when I was a kid skating. Meals are cooked for you, you are driven to the rink, they make costumes for you. Your parents sit around and watch admiringly while you skate. You don't have to think about anything but skating. You're just plain spoiled.
If I had never won a single medal, I'd still be skating in a rink somewhere. There wouldn't be an audience or camera flashes or autograph seekers, but I'd still be skating.
Figure skating is theatrical, and a part of it is wearing costumes. My costumes were very over-the-top and outrageous for figure skating. But for me, it's all beautiful. Even when nobody else believed they were beautiful, I felt beautiful in them.
Injuries are a huge thing for skating. I think skating is a very unnatural sport for the body, very tough on the joints.