It was at the Sydney Olympics that I first found out what it means to lose. It was a real blow to me. On my way to the games I already felt as if I was the winner, because I’d been winning all the time up until then. To this day, it’s hard to understand why things happened the way they did. Obviously I wasn’t prepared psychologically to compete at that level…My mistake was so silly and childish. It was just like a dream - I looked on as the hoop broke free of my hands and simply couldn’t believe what was happening.
Now I know for sure that everything always works out for the best. And what happened there at the Sydney Olympics in Sydney was actually a gift from heaven. If I’d won those Olympics I might have given up sport. Moreover, that defeat made me think about my life. I reassessed a lot of things and many things became clear. And one of those things was that you definitely have to work hard, to work towards your objective, but at the same time remember that not everything in this life depends on us alone…It’s probably not so bad that everything happened the way it did: I stuck with gymnastics and went on to become Olympic champion anyway.
