Quotations

«Only one thing has changed. I was an old man then and she was a young girl, and I'm an old man and she's a young lady. That's the only difference.»

«It's been very difficult to strategize with Michelle because I haven't seen her compete but one time, and that wasn't a legitimate competition.»

«Her mother called me, and I think she was perhaps a little apprehensive about my reaction. But I was very positive. I was only too pleased.»

«That was the first time I ever saw her distraught.»

«Not that they don't have wonderful skaters, but when I look at the results from some of the junior competitions, I'm not seeing the depth now that I used to see. So I have a question as to when this current crop of Russian skaters are finished whether they'll be as strong. Originally, the (Soviet) system was to assign a wonderful coach to perhaps one or two wonderful competitors and government would reimburse the coaches. Once that was removed, there was anticipation that this method wouldn't continue to produce any good skaters. So far it's been wrong. We'll see in the future.»

«She came back a different skater. She used to think about winning. Now, she's more focused on excelling. It's the right attitude for a champion.»

«She was 17 when she went to the East Coast and didn't come back until she was 20. She left as a girl and came back as a young lady.»

«She's been very much more mature and trained very hard. Tonight was a good start. It was a very good start. But it was only a start.»

«It was a good start. But it was just a start.»

«It's been quality, not quantity. We've been working harder, not longer. Today for her was a good start, a very good start, but it was only a start.»