The honour of carrying the Canadian flag... brings with it a sense of duty, privilege, and above all, great pride.
We come from a rich history of amazing sports and athletes here in Canada and there's been a long legacy before us that helped pave the way. And that's why I grew up believing I could go to the Olympics and stand on the podium one day.
For athletes, it is unhealthy to be one-sport focused, especially at a young age. I believe in exposing kids to lots of activities - there are great advantages to being a well-rounded athlete and human, no matter the field of play.
I want to ensure that I'm sending the right messages and that I'm empowering others, and doing things that feel like they're in line with my values.
I was so lucky. I grew up with an incredibly strong grandmother, mother and sister. All three, independent, fierce, clever women who were hard workers, had goals and visions for themselves, and were really ambitious. And, they didn't apologize for those goals.
My mom has always shopped for me. I'm so lucky that I have an in-house stylist.
I definitely dress based on my mood.
It's nice to socialize with some normal students, and kind of separate from my skating life with academics.
School for me has always been a really great balance with the skating.
I knew without doubt that I would try and continue my education as I was skating.
In my family, education was always important.
The challenge is to balance the technical elements and what is required of us with being artists and telling a story.
We're so excited to skate in a Canadian market.
I can get very quiet and internalize things.
Sometimes you forget how good it feels to just move, to express, to make different shapes, and let your body be free.
When I'm not on the ice, I do interval work on the bike or the elliptical, trying to mimic a four-minute routine. But it doesn't come close.
I'm quite fair and I need to protect myself with a good ball cap. Any time I can rep the Jays or the Leafs is great.
You put yourself in the public eye. You're kind of an open target.
Experience is a really wonderful thing, and in a way we've been fortunate to have had so many ups and downs in our career, and a lot of struggles and a lot of sacrifices. But again, that's just an athlete's story.
It's so uncommon for athletes to push themselves the way they do and not have injuries as a result.
