I can be a voice. I can use my platform to help the younger generation. I think it's really important for them to understand how to do things the right way, and not just in sports, in life in general.
As a female athlete, you're always fighting to be on a level playing field with your male counterparts. But I believe the Olympics is great for young girls; they get to be exposed to so many different sports and to these really strong women. It's an opportunity to showcase what we do, which is something that men get the opportunity to do on a pretty regular basis.
You know, I love wearing heels. I wish I could wear them all the time, but, you know, my sport doesn't really permit it.
I myself am frustrated in just where sports are at. It's a hard thing when you're out there working every day, and you know that someone else is cheating and they may not necessarily get caught.
I think that kids aren't even exploring the option of sports anymore, and they don't even know what they could do.
I love the relays. Track is such an individual sport, so it's fun to do something together.
I'm passionate about my sport and grateful that I get to do it for a living.
I never let track define me. That's something that's really important to me. That's what I do and it's what I love, but I think by having other things I'm passionate about and interested in, it helped me to come back. It helped me to have renewed love for the sport by being able to step away and then come back.
Parents have to understand, that even if their child isn't showing athletic excellence in a certain sport, they still need to be involved. They don't need to be involved in a military type of setting, they just need to get out and play and enjoy themselves and find it themselves.
I think it's very important, even if you're not in organized sports, but just to be active, to be healthy.
I always look back to my first Olympic medal in 2004 in Athens. I was very new to the sport, and it was my first big win at the Olympics.
And as long as I'm passionate about the sport, I'm able to do that and I'm happy, then I would love to do another Olympics. I'm just going to see how I'm feeling.
If I wasn't active and involved in different sports and just moving around, I wouldn't have even known that I had the potential to become an Olympian.
