DEBI THOMAS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I begged my mom to let me start skating.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

Right now I am doing my residency in orthopedic research.

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

The Olympics: not one of my better memories.

I wanted to be a doctor since I was five.

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.

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

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.