Mirai Nagasu

"It’s just skating, and I’ll survive, but at the same time, it’s hard because I’ve worked so long for this moment. It’s not the way I wanted it to go, but at the same time I’m telling everybody, you can fall and still get up and keep going."

"I had my dream Olympic skate [in the team event] and to me, I’ve been dreaming of that moment for such a long time, it made me feel like a superhero and superheroes save the day. And I wish I had said that we were all superheroes during the team event."

"There's... a stigma that says Asian Americans are more the nerdy type, so for me to be a part of this successful sports team... means a lot."

"My parents are super excited that they've produced an Olympian. I don’t think they ever would have imagined this would happen in a million years, so I hope I represent not only Team USA, but the Japanese-American culture and my family as well."

"A long time ago, a sports reporter wrote that I wasn’t strong in the free-skate, that I was more of a short program skater. And that bothered me because I work so hard every day just for a person to judge me on a couple of bad skates and deem me a bad free skater. That's absurd!"

"If you really put your mind to it, anything is possible."

"But I think a failure like that is always a learning experience. I feel like I’ve learned a lot about myself, and how to apply myself going into my next competition. It’s hard to skate like that, but I can only get better from here."

"Every time I put myself on the ice I get nervous. And getting reps is really important to me when I feel under pressure. So even in exhibition I might not be as nervous as when I compete, but having the confidence that I can land it under the spotlights, and when I can see anything, is really important to me. So I just try to do it as much as I can."