The only thing I advocate for is for equality for female athletes because we train just as hard, and we're always having a lot of head-to-head clashes, always competing against each other.
We're really friendly. The cool thing about skiing is you're competing against the clock. Even though you're competing against your teammates, it's not head-to-head. And we can all do better. You can always do better. You never really have a perfect run. And someone beats you. So you can't really blame anyone.
It's always hard to find the best friends in the locker room because we are all competing against each other - but the real friends you are going to definitely find off the court because we are competitors in between.
So, there's a lot of 22 in my life. That always followed me and has always been good to me. I also have a condition that is synesthesia, where you relate different senses with each other. So every time I think of numbers, since I was a kid, each number has had a color in my head.
Of course, rivals do affect athletes mentally, but if you are competing with top-notch athletes, you will push each other, you will encourage each other.
The only thing I would tell my younger self is, 'Don't pay a lot of money for head shots.' There's always some dude in Brooklyn that's like, 'Dude, this is gonna get you the job.' And he convinces you you've got to pay $700. You don't! Your head shot doesn't matter!
I was always the youngest and I think girls, period, try to psych each other out, there are a lot of head games.
None of us really pushes hard enough. People always talk about playing over your head when you are up against someone really good. Maybe you don't play over your head at all. Maybe it's just potential you never knew you had.
You always want to try, in everything you do, to attempt something you've never tried before, and the only way to succeed at that is through failure, and the only way to succeed through failure is just banging your head against the wall over and over until you get to that interesting thing on the other side.
I always have melodies flowing in my head - whether I'm just at home, at the mall, at a restaurant or wherever. I'm always humming along to the random melodies that form in my head. My friends always ask me, 'What are you singing?' and I'll be like, 'I don't know!'
You will be competing against athletes from many nations. But, most important, you are competing against yourself. All we expect is for you to do your very best, to push yourself just one second faster, one notch higher, one inch further.
I have great admiration for athletes. They are just like actors in a lot of ways. They have tremendous pressures and conflicts. They have to compete, and they can't stay home just because they have a head cold.
When I was competing, I would run daily 20 kilometers, and in addition to that, I'd put in many hours of fighting and sparring. That's why I was always able to keep the speed in the ring. I would train so hard that sometimes it was not only hard to stand up, but it would also be hard to lay down.
I've always had problems with my brain, so a lot of the songs are about issues I have with paranoia or freak-outs. 'When My Head Explodes' is about being on stage, having people look at you and expecting you to perform, then literally your head explodes.
My dad always told me to play hard and know that the people you're competing with and against are working just as hard or harder. So don't let them out-work you.
There is a dualism inherent in democracy--opposing forces pushing against each other, always. Culture clashes. Different belief systems. All coming together to create this country. But this balance takes a great deal of energy.
I'd rather have head stomps and kicks to the head on the ground rather than elbows because I think to kick someone in the head while they're laying on their back is very hard. Elbows are easy. You can be here, and I just cut you and won the fight.