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Feb 19, 2006

"True happiness is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
" --Helen Keller

An Olympic Hero

"I have always felt if I ever do something big like this I want to be able to give something back. I love what I do; it's great fun, but honestly, it's a pretty ridiculous thing, I skate around in tights. If you keep it in perspective, I've trained my whole life for this but it's not that big a deal. "But because I skated well I have a few seconds of microphone time. So I can either gush how wonderful I feel or use it for something. "So I am donating the entire (winning) sum the USOC gives me ($25,000) to an organization, 'Right to Play,' that Johan Olav Koss (the Norwegian icon who won three gold medals in 1994 in Lillehammer) either started or gave to in 1994. It helps refugees in Chad, where there are over 60,000 persons displaced from their homes.