My mom literally saved my life. I wasn't supposed to make it out of the orphanage.
Every single race that I get on the podium in biathlon, I'm shocked.
Cycling's primarily a pushing motion, and skiing is more pulling, so it kind of balances out the body.
Sports were a way for me to get comfortable with my body. I learned to appreciate everything I could still do.
When you're using your upper body to live, you get to know how to move every muscle.
I'm stubborn; once I start something, I want to see how far I can go.
With cycling, I can still be active and compete, and ultimately, that's what I love to do, to be competitive.
I started doing sports when I was 13 and competitively doing sports - where I was actually training - when I was 17.
I never thought I'd be able to go back to Ukraine.
I am so happy I have been able to channel all the things that I went through when I was younger and make them into something positive.
I like to keep my hair and makeup routines easy and simple on race days.
I'm chasing that gold medal.
I'm a coffee lover.
I think it is very unfortunate that there is a ban on adoptions in Russia.
I was supposed to be adopted when I was five, but then my adoption was pushed back by two years.
I'm just stupid and too headstrong.
Growing up in a very poor orphanage in Ukraine, there wasn't much food.
I was born with legs, but they were so deformed.
I am very lucky to be living my dream.
Sport has definitely been an outlet for me.
Just keep moving forward.
I'm a person that, once I start something, I can't just quit it.
They said if I stayed in the orphanage for another month or so, I basically would not have been able to be alive.
I absolutely fell in love with being on the water and the peace and freedom that you get being on the water in a single boat.
I am so proud to be Ukrainian, and I'm also so proud to be an American.
I was a troublemaker.
