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" I think gymnastics was associated with the 10. I thought that belonged to the sport, and somehow we gave it way. "

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" I thought I was going to retire at 20, and I was going to be a surgeon. "

" I cannot change anything, so I don't want to think about what I would have done. "

" To me, family is what is important. If you don't have it, nothing is going to matter. "

" I made the cover of 'Sports Illustrated,' 'Newsweek' and 'Time' all in one week, and I didn't even know what that meant. "

" I had a lot of energy, and my mom decided to look for a place where I can spend the energy, because I was jumping on the couch and furniture, and I was jumping on the top of the things in the house. "

" I am very highly appreciated in my country, and everybody seems to love me. "

" I didn't know I wanted to be a gymnast; I was just introduced to the gym. I loved the place because it looked like a hi-tech playground with mats and a lot of things I can hang from. "

" I'm very good friends with my former coaches. We speak on the phone a lot. "

" After retiring from competition in 1981, I did exhibitions and coached. "

" I believe that you should gravitate to people who are doing productive and positive things with their lives. "

" Once you become an Olympic champion, you are expected to win all the time. "

" Romania doesn't have a big tradition of gymnastics as a fun activity. We were a little behind in this aspect. "

" I come from a communist country. We learned nothing of lawyers, nothing about rights. "

" I like seeing advanced acrobatics, but I also like to see more than tumbling. It's important to combine the artistry of gymnastics with the tough skills. It's called artistic gymnastics. We should stand by the name. "

" My mother never watched me train in Romania. She wasn't allowed, it just wasn't done back then. My training was paid for by the government. My parents were not at the Olympics with me, either. I never expected them to be. "

" I wanted to have a free life. "

" Of course, most people remember that I received the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics competition. "

" In Montreal, I kept thinking, 'Pay attention: this is the Olympics! It only happens once every four years!' "

" People always accused me of not smiling like my rival Olga Korbut, but that was just my personality. When you're balancing on a nine-inch beam, you have to concentrate. But if you look back at the footage, I was always smiling and waving at the crowd after my performances. "

" I have a classic taste with a twist, because classic never goes away. "

" Other kids had more talent, but I was the most focused. "

" See, when I went to the Olympics in '76, the gymnastics people knew that I was good, but everybody else, after I won, everybody was like, 'Where's she coming from? Who is she? What is Romania?' "

" You can't jump from little things to big things. It just takes time and patience. "

" When you go out of your country and meet people, you get a wider perspective. "

" What makes me happy is the appreciation of people around me. "

" Of course I used to smile and laugh in 1976, but not when I was competing. Please show me somebody who laughs when they are concentrating; I always smiled. "

" I was a perfectionist in gymnastics. "

" Hard work has made it easy. That is my secret. That is why I win. "

" I never thought I would be standing here, married to an All-American guy, living in Oklahoma. What a country. "

" What can you know about life at 14? I have learned a lot since, but you learn slowly. You get hit by many things and try to make sense of it. "