Obviously, I wanted to win the gold medal. But not everyone can reach the pinnacle of your career on the last day you compete. Not everyone can go out like John Elway.

When the Japanese mend broken objects they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold, because they believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful

To not have the opportunity to go back one more time and try and win the gold is obviously, in my opinion, very disrespectful. They can beat me down and say I'm over the hill or say that I don't have it anymore, but to me, I know that I do.

Early on (in my career) I got swept up in this world, you know, Lord of The Rings, and all these great action-adventure movies and I love them,

Overall, it was a huge success for me. It was a huge honor for me to be a two-time Olympian and have the accomplishments that I've been able to have in skiing. But certainly there was an element of disappointment. ... I expect perfection out of myself, and I didn't ski a perfect run. I was disappointed in that, but I did ski well, and I had a great time.

I've had more success in this sport than I ever dreamed possible. It's just been an amazing ride and I don't think a medal here would have affected that at all.