Debi Thomas Quotations

I tell people I'm too stupid to know what's impossible. I have ridiculously large dreams, and half the time they come true.

The Olympics: not one of my better memories.

Being an Olympian, I always have this strong belief in excellence.

What was most important to me at the Olympics was going out there and performing my best. When I messed up the first jump combination, which was my big move, it hit me that I messed up the program of my life.

Just because you didn't start out perfect doesn't mean you can't have an excellent result in the end.

I got a bronze medal and I can't complain about that, the only African-American to get a medal in the Winter Olympics.

My mother introduced me to many different things, and figure skating was one of them. I just thought that it was magical having to glide across the ice.

My skating is a very emotional thing that comes from the heart, never doing it for the medal.

I wanted to be a doctor since I was five.

I was always very strong in math, physics and calculus.

I've got this thing with skating and school - to see how much I can accomplish.

I am not really sure how I got interested in medicine.

I watch a lot of professional skating, and I am really looking forward to going to nationals.

But I like it when my patients are impressed not knowing that I was an Olympian.

For as long as I can really remember, I wanted to be a doctor.

I begged my mom to let me start skating.

I just thought that it was magical having to glide across the ice.

I want people to know when I'm taking care of them I'll give it all that I've got.

I would make my mom buy me the toy doctor kit.

Right now I am doing my residency in orthopedic research.

So I went for engineering, specifically product design, which I enjoyed.

Probably the '86 nationals. That was my first real national title and first real statement I ever made in figure skating, and my life changed after I returned.

Plus, it also meant a lot because it was the Olympic year, and if I wanted a shot at Olympic gold I needed to be national champion.

My advice is that going to the Olympics and winning a gold medal are great goals, but the real goal should be to be the best that you can be.

Figure skating was a pretty individual sport. I've grown up a lot since those days and enjoy being part of a team now. Being a doctor is about working with nurses, therapists, anesthesiologists, and I've learned more about team play being a doctor than when I was in sports.

What makes you really come together under pressure is determination and focus and toughness.

If you trust your nerve as well as your skill, you're capable of a lot more than you can imagine.

You can accomplish anything with pure persistence and drive.

It is great to be a part of the whole skating family, and it makes me feel ecstatic that my name will be among the greats of the sport.

I tell people I'm too stupid to...

We helped them unload and while they were here all of the people were coming in and getting meals. We let them go through the stuff, so these six men got to see the fruits of their labor. It was the most incredible thing because we sat and watched six grown men ball like babies as they watched the people taking the things that they had brought and making a difference in somebody else's life.

Then I went on to win worlds, which added to the change in my life. Winning that was outstanding, but I skated better at the nationals.