Apolo Ohno

A lot of times, some of my best ideas happen when I'm running. That's when I do my best thinking. ”

Do I feel any pressure as the most decorated Winter Olympian in American history? None at all. The only pressures that I know I face are those of how to pay it forward: How can I continually make a positive impact in people's lives, help others achieve their dreams, create their own Olympic mindset, creating champions within themselves? ”

It's about having an active lifestyle, staying healthy, and making the right decisions. Life is about balance. Not everybody wants to run a marathon, but we could all start working out and being active, whether you walk to work or take an extra flight of stairs. ”

I've always wanted to play a role in inspiring people to be better, to live higher quality lives and to feel good about the way that they look and feel. ”

When there's somebody racing side-by-side, when somebody's right next to me and they're pushing and we're both tired, we're both fatigued, I want to be able to beat them mentally. ”

It's important to be driven and have goals. You want an independent woman who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go after it. It's attractive to me when a woman is doing what she loves. It makes me want to know more. ”

I think so many times in our society we focus so much on just the end result; when we finally reach that point we realize that was never the true goal. ”

We actually have a small family. It's just my father and I and my grandmother, who lives in Tokyo. I cherish my friendships. ”

Japan, not only a mega-busy city that thrives on electronics and efficiency, actually has an almost sacred appreciation of nature. One must travel outside of Tokyo to truly experience the 'old Japan' and more importantly feel these aspects of Japanese culture. ”

I had a ton of energy, ran around like crazy - more than a handful for my dad. I was crazy. Dad barely handled it. I was never diagnosed ADHD or anything like that, but I'm pretty sure I had it when I was younger. It's the only thing that would explain me getting into trouble all the time. ”