She went out and just lit it up. She had a great race.

The Dutch fans are awesome. It's really exciting whenever we race in front of a big crowd of them. They cheer for everybody. That's really special.

It's awesome. I went and talked to them before my race, and then, after, I talked to them, too, and gave them my flowers. I want to go be with them right now.

Growing up, you always dream of winning a gold medal. But coming into these Games, it wasn't something I was focused on. I'm just enjoying skating. This is the best season ever. I think that this year, my 3,000 meters has been stronger than the 1,500. The 1,500 has been anybody's race this year. When I was first, I still didn't know if that was enough.

I am honored to be selected as Canada's flag bearer for the closing ceremony of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. Over the past 16 days we've had some outstanding performances by Canadian athletes and it is truly overwhelming to be selected as the flag bearer amidst the most successful Canadian Olympic Winter Games team ever.

The technique was something that was pretty hard to pick up and not something you just learn overnight.