(Photo Credit: Nancy Clausen-Tyndale Momentum)
Why did you decide to write a book?
I decided to write a book because so many stories have been covered about me. People always try to get the story, get the inside scoop. But I don’t think anybody’s really pinpointed it yet and I wanted to tell my story from my perspective and tell people the details and behind the scenes stories that they didn’t know—the hardships I went through, the good times I went through—and hopefully inspire people to do something a little differently and find a passion that can drive them.Describe what the process of putting your life into book-form was like for you.
The process is really long and fun though. I collected a lot of journals and diaries over the years, poetry that I’ve written, interviews, everything. We kind of put it all together and put it down on paper, tried to organize it, and also put a lot of interviews with the writer, who helped me put it down, and hours and hours and hours each night talking back and forth. A lot of going back and forth editing, trying to make it perfect. Putting my thoughts and my journey and process on paper was a great way for me to kind of put this whole big picture into perspective.
Where did you get the title for your book?
My entire career is about balance. Especially after the Olympics, winning the gold on the balance beam, that’s what people have tagged me to—the balance beam. It’s been my favorite. It’s what I’ve learned the most from and life is a balance beam. Everybody’s presented with fears on a daily basis and when I’m forced to come into the gym every day and face my fears, and not just face them, but do death-defying things on a four-inch beam, it’s something that transfers into everyday life. It makes you rethink the things you’re scared about. Just the feeling of doing a flip for the first time and landing it makes you feel like you’re on top of the world. I think it’s a feeling everyone should be able to have because it teaches you a lot about yourself.
(Photo Credit: Nancy Clausen-Tyndale Momentum)
You weren’t always the popular girl in school. Talk about popularity for girls today.
Popularity for any girl, at any age, seems to be important. I think society puts it in your brain that you have to be cool, and you have to be in the “in crowd,” and do things like everybody else. A lot of girls grow up defining their worth and success based on how popular they are. I went through a really rough time with that trying to decide do I go with them or not? It’s just about being true to yourself and not being in the popular crowd will make you even more successful in the end.How did it feel in 2008 to have made the Olympic team at trials, but then learn you’ve been taken off the roster at the selection camp?
It was shocking. I don’t think I allowed myself to feel much because I’d finally made it to the Olympics, and then all of a sudden, they’re like, “Oh, just kidding. You need to do it one more time.” And it was the first time I kind of let myself take a breather and accept everything and be like, “I am going to the Olympics.” And God put me right back in my place.
You’re going through that same selection process again for the 2012 Olympics. What’s it like this time around?
Going through it the first time and having to live through the reality at the end of the day that you’re going to be lined up and told you are or aren’t going, I’ve kind of accepted it. I learned the hard way for the first time that you can’t get too wrapped up in it because at the end of the day it’s what’s best for the team. I feel like I’ll take it a little easier this time, but I don’t know. It’s still nerve wracking because it’s a point of a finger that tells you if your dream’s coming true or not. If you let that one line and that one finger point define the rest of your life, then you’re either going to be crushed or you’re going to be mad. And if you let that define you, that’s not fair. You’re worth so much more than that and I’ve learned that and I think that’ll make it a little better this time. Life moves on. It always does. And working your entire life for one moment that lasts a minute and thirty seconds, you have to be okay with the fact that it’s just a minute and thirty and as soon as it’s over, it’s over. And you have to move on and I think that’s what makes it exciting, but makes it nerve wracking because you put so much into that short ninety seconds.
Even before your floor routine at the 2008 Olympics, you knew there was no way you could win the gold medal. What was that moment like?
It was horrible. It was a life changing moment. I always say I’ve been defined by that moment because it was within a matter of ten seconds that I had to decide is my life all about winning? Just getting that gold medal? Or is it about something different? And I remember looking over at my coach and him not even being phased. I knew he knew as well. But he just gave me a nod like everything was fine, you still need to go out there. I told myself it’s not about the medal anymore. It’s just about doing it for you and doing your best. I went out and told myself, “If you can’t get the gold medal, then you need to prove to the 50,000 people in the arena that you deserved it.” And no medal could have ever given me more pride and reward than what I gave myself with that.
(Photo Credit: Nancy Clausen-Tyndale Momentum)
Talk about your decision to do Dancing with the Stars instead of finishing your degree at your high school.
It was probably one of the hardest decisions I've made in my entire life. It was whether I went back to Valley [High School] or I went to Dancing with the Stars. I told my parents from day one that I wouldn't give up anything for my senior year of high school because I kind of balanced school and gymnastics forever and I wanted that normal school life. It was hard. Graduation, prom, everything. The classes themselves. It was a big decision, but Dancing with the Stars has given me so many opportunities and allowed me to do so many things I never thought I’d be able to do. I wouldn't necessarily trade it for anything, but it would have been great to do both.
What message do you hope people will take away from your book?
What I hope people get out of this book, besides getting to know me a little more, is hopefully some sort of inspiration. Some insight that everything I went through wasn’t all glamorous and that I’m just like everybody else. There’s good times, there’s bad times, there’s really bad times. But if you find faith and a path and yourself and everything then anything’s possible. You don’t have to be a born Lebron James or Michael Jordan or anything to be successful. You just have to find something you have a passion for and pursue it. You have to trust yourself before you trust anyone else. Hopefully when they read it they just know that anything is possible if you put your heart into it.
Offical Trailer for Winning Balance
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