Aug. 1, 2024
Olympic Spirit in Dating: Love and Resilience with Olympian Kelly Gunther
What do you do when a life-altering injury threatens your greatest passion? Join us as we welcome Kelly Gunther, an Olympian whose journey from a devastating injury to competing in the 2014 Winter Olympics is nothing short of miraculous. Kelly's story isn't just about her love for skating; it's a testament to the power of resilience and the unwavering belief in one's dreams. From overcoming learning disabilities in school to making a remarkable comeback on the ice, her journey offers invaluable lessons on maintaining a winning mindset in all aspects of life, including the often daunting world of online dating.
Kelly opens up about the profound challenges she faced, both on and off the ice, and how supportive mentors and friends played a crucial role in her achievements. Her narrative reveals how finding confidence through her passion for skating was transformative, offering a sense of belonging and achievement that extended beyond sports. This episode shines a light on the significance of embracing unique learning processes and the importance of perseverance. Kelly's story emphasizes that self-belief and encouragement from others are key drivers in overcoming obstacles and realizing personal goals.
We also explore the intricacies of dating as a successful woman, discussing how confidence and resilience play into personal relationships. Through Kelly's experiences, we highlight the importance of quickly vetting potential partners and not taking rejections personally. She shares how a positive mindset and a robust support network can turn setbacks into opportunities for growth. Listen in for motivational tips on building self-confidence, overcoming limiting beliefs, and harnessing inner strength to achieve your dreams, both professionally and personally.
Chapters
00:03 - Olympian Kelly Gunther's Comeback Story
11:36 - Overcoming Adversity and Self-Belief
23:13 - Love and Resilience in Adversity
30:19 - Nurturing Confidence in Dating Pursuits
33:55 - Building Confidence and Overcoming Setbacks
Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:03.028 --> 00:00:05.233
I'm Carrie Brett and this is Shot at Love.
00:00:05.233 --> 00:00:16.815
This week's guest is Kelly Gunther, and she's a motivational speaker, an Olympian and an American speed skater, but what's truly amazing about her is that she's the ultimate comeback kid.
00:00:16.815 --> 00:00:19.865
Her story is one of inspiration.
00:00:19.865 --> 00:00:28.170
At the 2010 Olympic trials, she endured a double compound fracture that nearly severed her foot from her leg.
00:00:28.170 --> 00:00:40.523
A fracture so bad for most, a dream of the Olympics would have been over, but instead Kelly, with tears in her eyes, got back on the ice At the 2014 Olympic trials.
00:00:40.523 --> 00:00:45.191
She skated her personal best on the same track as her accident.
00:00:45.191 --> 00:00:50.265
This girl is in her own lane of greatness and she's always been there.
00:00:50.265 --> 00:00:56.003
She realized early on that she had herself, and it was up to her to make it happen.
00:00:56.003 --> 00:01:05.171
Kelly's also single, so when we come back, she will share what it takes to have a winning mindset and how having that will help you find love online.
00:01:05.171 --> 00:01:07.147
You won't want to miss it, so stay tuned.
00:01:14.501 --> 00:01:20.394
Kelly Gunther is an American speed skater who participated in the 2014 Winter Olympics.
00:01:20.394 --> 00:01:30.662
She began roller skating at the age of six and briefly tried figure skating, but she was too fast for the music, so she took up speed skating as an inline skater.
00:01:30.662 --> 00:01:35.513
She won multiple world championship gold medals on the United States relay team.
00:01:35.513 --> 00:01:44.375
At the 2010 Olympic trials, kelly made the US speed skating team but was bumped from the team after another skater was granted a reskate.
00:01:44.375 --> 00:01:49.706
In March of 2010, she fell during a race and suffered a devastating injury.
00:01:50.429 --> 00:01:56.466
After intensive rehab, kelly returned to skating and set two personal best times in November of 2011.
00:01:56.466 --> 00:02:03.727
She made the 2011-2012 World Cup team and placed third in the Thousand Meters National Championships.
00:02:03.727 --> 00:02:10.907
At the 2014 Olympic trials, she skated a personal best time to place fourth and made the Olympic team.
00:02:10.907 --> 00:02:14.109
It is my honor to welcome Kelly today.
00:02:14.109 --> 00:02:26.670
In her words, she wasn't first, she wasn't last, she was always the girl right there and she's the ultimate comeback kid, and sometimes it's just as easy as that continuing to show up.
00:02:26.670 --> 00:02:30.450
So, kelly, thank you for showing up here for my listeners.
00:02:30.450 --> 00:02:32.186
What an honor to have you.
00:02:33.381 --> 00:02:34.826
Thank you so much, keri.
00:02:34.826 --> 00:02:37.487
It is such an honor and a privilege to be here.
00:02:37.487 --> 00:02:38.210
I appreciate it.
00:02:38.210 --> 00:02:39.665
Thank you so so much.
00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:54.394
I want to start from the beginning so people can get to know who you are and how you set that attention to be a skater and you knew at the age of six that you didn't know much about the Olympics, but you knew that you were going to the Olympics.
00:02:54.394 --> 00:03:09.632
And it's so fascinating to me because Michael Jackson is an example of someone who knew as a child that he was going to be on a big stage and he never wavered that belief and I think, no matter what, you had a lot of things holding you back.
00:03:09.632 --> 00:03:15.491
So talk about when you were a little girl and I can just see you as a little girl in the roller rink.
00:03:15.491 --> 00:03:17.740
You know with such fierce determination.
00:03:18.161 --> 00:03:46.572
So tell me about when you decided to be an Olympian um, yes, I absolutely love that question and I love going back to my childhood as that little girl, because I can literally vividly remember watching the 1994 Winter Olympics and watching the figure skating girls skate on their ice and tell the story of what they were pouring out to their music, to the jumps and spins.
00:03:46.572 --> 00:03:55.647
And just from that very moment on, watching them be in that stage, in that arena, I knew that's exactly where I wanted to be.
00:03:55.647 --> 00:04:03.329
And, granted, I don't know if I knew exactly what the Olympic rings meant, but I knew I wanted to be on a stage like that someday.
00:04:03.329 --> 00:04:12.348
And I said to myself as I was watching I'm going to be on that stage no matter what, even as a six-year-old little girl it's exactly what I said.
00:04:13.169 --> 00:04:22.516
And wasting no time, and going to the local roller rink, which had absolutely nothing to do with figure skating or ice skating, I fell in love with it.
00:04:22.516 --> 00:04:25.740
I just, you know, love the jumps and spins, all the hair and makeup.
00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:35.346
But I was a little too fast for the music and I couldn't hear the beat of it and I just love to go fast and fall down and get right back up.
00:04:35.346 --> 00:04:57.072
So I was introduced to inline speed skating, uh, where I just love to go fast, turn left and when the gun went off I just I went for it and left everything behind me and just skated forward and for 10 years of my career that took me around the world to pursue the dreams that I had set out from that six year old little girl.
00:04:57.713 --> 00:05:07.524
I love this, so I can see myself in you, because when I was a little girl, I was, I was a photographer, but there it was predominantly all men.
00:05:07.524 --> 00:05:14.627
And it was like, you know, you'll never be as good as your dad, you know, and and when you're little, you believe you can do anything.
00:05:14.627 --> 00:05:28.322
And I think how I got my start in working at the magazine I was 20, but I was so green and I wasn't jaded by the world it was like, hey, you need to hire me, or at least I was going to go down trying.
00:05:28.322 --> 00:05:34.093
And I think you have to have that warrior mindset Like there isn't.
00:05:34.093 --> 00:05:36.805
And this is the way I approach this show.
00:05:36.946 --> 00:06:02.704
I was so determined to make this show work, even through a pandemic, even with everything you know not working or being as planned, but I felt that I had something for people that could change their lives and, through my tough experience online, that became my expertise and and I there wasn't an option for this show not to succeed.
00:06:02.704 --> 00:06:33.572
And I think you have to have that warrior mindset and you cannot approach online dating like, okay, it may or may happen to me, and I feel like and we were talking about this earlier we live in a world where we all deserve love, but for some reason there's millions of people walking around thinking they may or may not find love, and so for you becoming a member of the Olympic team, there was just like no option.
00:06:33.572 --> 00:06:36.526
Like it was, it was going to happen, that was part of your destiny.
00:06:36.526 --> 00:06:38.351
Can you talk about that a little bit more?
00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:41.122
Yeah, absolutely.
00:06:41.122 --> 00:06:47.821
It was my destiny because, just like you said, I was determined and I set it out to be.
00:06:47.821 --> 00:07:02.107
And you have to have that determination in you if you want to pursue anything in life rather it be the Olympics, online dating you have to know what you want and you have to go for it, no matter what obstacles are set in front of you.
00:07:02.107 --> 00:07:06.824
Rather, it's the biggest roadblock, and that you don't think that you can knock it down.
00:07:06.824 --> 00:07:17.620
I can promise you that if you want it bad enough, you will absolutely knock it down in front of you, but it all comes within itself and it all becomes with those words.
00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:24.403
At the end of the day, you have to have it all as a puzzle piece the determination, the confidence, the belief.
00:07:24.403 --> 00:07:35.095
They all really go hand in hand, because if you don't have all the puzzle pieces put together, you're not going to be able to achieve anything and anything or everything that you want.
00:07:35.095 --> 00:07:38.744
And that was the same as I was as a skater.
00:07:38.744 --> 00:07:46.463
You know, if I did the work and I had all of the background of it, then I knew I could go to the starting line ready to go prepared.
00:07:46.463 --> 00:07:51.923
And I'm not saying every race was perfect and butterflies and rainbows, and neither is life.
00:07:51.923 --> 00:08:01.112
But once you have that determination and all of those back puzzle pieces together, you will be able to conquer everything and anything that you want to.
00:08:01.112 --> 00:08:11.966
I think that's what is so important about online dating and finding love, or even, at the end of the day to be honest with you, carrie finding yourself, and that is such a huge, huge thing.
00:08:11.966 --> 00:08:17.567
And if you can't love yourself, you can't love everybody or anybody else that you want to.
00:08:18.548 --> 00:08:28.584
It's so interesting what you say about this puzzle piece, because there's the determination, there's the free will and the showing up and then doing the work which you did.
00:08:28.584 --> 00:08:31.130
I mean, not everyone can say they're an Olympian.
00:08:31.130 --> 00:08:39.724
I mean I'm kind of an Olympic dater but like that's the only thing I'm an Olympian at, but timing too.
00:08:39.724 --> 00:08:43.730
So you show up but also someone takes notice.
00:08:43.730 --> 00:08:52.900
So you were on Molly Dare's show and Molly is like the first lady of Clubhouse, which I think is so fascinating, and I definitely want her to come on my show.
00:08:52.900 --> 00:09:07.715
But she's had a guest or two on her show that I've had and she pulled me up on stage on Clubhouse and you heard me on stage and you wrote me and you said Carrie, I'm Kelly, I'm an Olympian and I'm single and I'd love to come on your show.
00:09:08.500 --> 00:09:12.130
And I think this is the cool thing is that Clubhouse is a way to connect.
00:09:12.130 --> 00:09:13.585
It's just a tool.
00:09:13.585 --> 00:09:14.985
It's the same thing as a dating app.
00:09:14.985 --> 00:09:22.267
It's a way to put people in front of you and connect with people all over the world that you would never connect with.
00:09:22.267 --> 00:09:29.426
And I think people have this awful like stigma around online dating and these dating apps.
00:09:29.426 --> 00:09:32.331
But they're actually a gift, especially in a pandemic.
00:09:32.331 --> 00:09:39.313
They're a gift and just like Clubhouse is a gift, because we all want to be seen, we all want to be heard.
00:09:39.313 --> 00:09:42.024
But you have to be willing to put yourself out there.
00:09:42.024 --> 00:09:51.626
And I pushed you the other day to pitch your story and I was like you can do this, you're the comeback kid, use that, just do it.
00:09:51.626 --> 00:09:54.809
Don't think so much about it, just do it.
00:09:54.809 --> 00:10:04.947
So I'm pushing you, but can you draw the parallels to you're putting yourself out there in a big way on Clubhouse, so you can do that online.
00:10:07.059 --> 00:10:17.192
Absolutely, you totally can, and I love that you totally remind me of that story, because you do have to push yourself and or you need somebody to push you.
00:10:17.192 --> 00:10:19.700
I've totally, completely, 1000 percent.
00:10:19.700 --> 00:10:41.328
And you have to step into that mindset and as soon as Carrie told me that, I was like, yeah, you're right, I am the comeback kid, like nothing stops me and it's the same as parallel as with dating, and having that mindset, as with Clubhouse and putting yourself out there and it has to be persistent and you have to keep showing up time and time again.
00:10:41.328 --> 00:10:45.775
And it is so hard not to get that instant feedback that you may want.
00:10:46.201 --> 00:10:50.110
I will be the first one to raise my hand and say, oh, I was doing so good.
00:10:50.110 --> 00:10:52.081
And then you take five steps backwards.
00:10:52.081 --> 00:10:57.653
You know, because we're so, at least for myself, like I so need that right away.
00:10:57.653 --> 00:11:11.158
Um, I don't know if I want to say attention, but that right away, like gravity, to know that what I'm going after is what I should be going after instead of taking the baby steps and just showing up every single day.
00:11:11.158 --> 00:11:18.322
Because, even though you may not get that instant feedback that you want, showing up is just as important every single day.
00:11:18.322 --> 00:11:35.134
So, yes, I'm single, and to put myself out there every single day in a way that maybe I don't want to, it builds your confidence and it builds who you are, and Clubhouse is an exact, amazing tool for that and also for professionally.
00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:50.870
Yeah, I think if you're afraid to try online dating, I would say, give Clubhouse a whirl, because I remember my first day I ended up on the largest stage on Clubhouse with Steve Osher, who's the godfather of podcasting.
00:11:50.870 --> 00:11:55.687
So it was like I landed on stage with Tony Robbins and I didn't know what I was doing.
00:11:55.687 --> 00:12:04.474
I was literally shaking, but I was so determined that people were like who is this person?
00:12:04.474 --> 00:12:05.804
How did she get up on stage?
00:12:05.804 --> 00:12:09.325
And it was my willingness and my determination.
00:12:09.966 --> 00:12:14.942
It's a combination of all of it and I think we're all like baby giraffes.
00:12:14.942 --> 00:12:20.313
You know it's awkward and we're going to fall and not walk so gracefully.
00:12:20.313 --> 00:12:26.312
But I think there's a lot to be learned from you, because you did lace up those skates.
00:12:26.312 --> 00:12:32.932
Let's start with your learning disability, because I have a learning disability as well.
00:12:32.932 --> 00:12:44.763
I was put in that learning disability column but I have ADD and people often say you know, Carrie, I noticed you talk about your ADD quite a bit on your show and I'm like, well, that's all of me.
00:12:44.763 --> 00:13:00.984
I mean, that's, that's my focus, that's what makes me me, and for a long time you struggled with this and it's where you find yourself in the struggle.
00:13:00.984 --> 00:13:05.354
So can you talk about your learning disability and how it pointed you in a different direction as far as skating.
00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:08.003
Yes, absolutely.
00:13:08.003 --> 00:13:22.662
I really struggled with it, more so middle school, high school the most, because, you know, in elementary school you don't really know that you're separated in a different, smaller classroom.
00:13:22.662 --> 00:13:32.393
I mean, I at least not knew no different until I noticed I was quote, unquote, I guess different, um, and a smaller classroom, away from everybody.
00:13:32.393 --> 00:13:46.130
And I struggled so much with it as, and I just wanted to be that girl Like I just wanted to fit in with everybody else and gratefully so I did have my skating.
00:13:46.130 --> 00:14:03.788
So I really gravitated to that so much because on my skates and when I put my skates on my feet, I could be that girl, I could just skate as fast as I could and I could beat the guys and I could, you know, give the best of the best or run for their money and be the younger skater.
00:14:03.788 --> 00:14:06.643
And that's what really drove my confidence.
00:14:06.643 --> 00:14:24.903
And as I struggled with it in high school especially because I never dated in school, because I was always Kelly the skater girl, or you know, I was in a different classroom and I remember even my junior or senior year, a classmate had said, you know, kelly, like why don't we see you in her classes?
00:14:24.903 --> 00:14:25.764
Where are you?
00:14:25.764 --> 00:14:28.451
And I think I responded back.
00:14:28.451 --> 00:15:01.966
Well, I totally played it off, but I responded back as in oh like, I just have extra homework to do because, like of my skating or whatever the case was, and it was actually just because I wasn't smart enough to be in those classes where I was so embarrassed by that then where now I'm such a huge advocate of it and I want to be because it's something I'm so proud of and something that I've so overcame of it by opening up and by sharing my stories and by just saying just that, what I said, and being so ashamed of it and helping other girls.
00:15:01.966 --> 00:15:05.964
You know, come over that and it's not easy.
00:15:05.964 --> 00:15:21.485
And I think why it's so cool as well is because I'm still friends with my special ed teachers and they're not just my teachers now, but they've become my friends and I laugh and granite say yes, they are all my, all will always be my teachers.
00:15:21.946 --> 00:15:27.532
My teacher in seventh and eighth grade just retired this year and she, she's kind of going through that process.
00:15:27.532 --> 00:15:33.250
You know that I just went through almost four years ago redefining herself and what is her identity going to be?
00:15:33.250 --> 00:15:48.452
She's always been a teacher and I still call her by her name and I said you know, miss Birdie, like you're, you will always be a teacher and you will always be teaching somebody rather it's your grandkids now and you'll always be teaching me one way or another.
00:15:48.452 --> 00:16:06.590
You know, I will always come to you for help with my speeches and you know, whatever the case may be, so as embarrassed as I was, it's something that I'm so proud of because I've learned and grow to have those connections and to be able to know that it's something not to be ashamed of.
00:16:06.590 --> 00:16:13.321
And if I could go back to that middle school, high school girl, I would be just as proud as I am now.
00:16:13.321 --> 00:16:19.234
Then, and you know help others, you know sit in that classroom, but yet to be proud of it.
00:16:20.179 --> 00:16:20.721
Yeah, it's.
00:16:20.721 --> 00:16:27.014
There's all different types of ways to learn and Robert Downey Jr has an earpiece.
00:16:27.014 --> 00:16:29.341
They feed him the lines you know.
00:16:29.341 --> 00:16:31.028
Tom Cruise has dyslexia.
00:16:31.028 --> 00:16:34.149
David Sedaris, who I love, is an amazing writer.
00:16:34.149 --> 00:16:41.551
He had a speech impediment, and so these people are pretty gifted and they just learned and processed.
00:16:41.551 --> 00:16:46.530
Their brain was so uniquely different that they learned a different way.
00:16:47.472 --> 00:17:20.761
And you felt and I felt this my whole life as well that you always felt like you had something to prove, and I think when you have someone who believes in you, then like your teacher or like me, who pushed you up on that stage to give you a pitch it means so much because you sometimes need someone to tell you you can do this, and that's why I relied so heavily on my girlfriends when I was online dating, because they would just remind me that someone would love me.
00:17:20.821 --> 00:17:34.561
You know, because I kept failing and I kept getting my heart broken and I had to get back out there and it was really hard, since you spent the majority of your life feeling like you had to prove to everyone else that you could do it.
00:17:34.561 --> 00:17:46.097
You would tend to overperform or outskate the race, and I remember one time hearing Britney Spears' mother say I never put pressure on Britney because she put so much pressure on herself.
00:17:46.097 --> 00:17:57.215
And I think wanting something so bad is an energy and that's why I always encourage people to believe that they will find love and they just need to know it.
00:17:57.215 --> 00:18:01.500
And I think when you get knocked down, you lose your belief in yourself.
00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:03.237
So can you talk about that?
00:18:04.630 --> 00:18:09.339
Absolutely and believe is such a huge thing and and proving others wrong.
00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:12.574
And I say I feed off of that.
00:18:12.574 --> 00:18:23.250
I feed off a mega energy because my whole life I've had to prove myself because, as you did this intro, I wasn't the girl that was first and I wasn't the girl that was last.
00:18:23.250 --> 00:18:47.244
I was always right there and, excuse me, I had to keep proving that I was going to keep coming up and I was going to keep showing up in races and in school, even though I had to work harder and to have that belief system and having other coaches my mom really who pushed me as well to believe in me, to know that I could do it and I can do it.
00:18:47.244 --> 00:19:00.673
But at the end of the day, if you don't have that belief in yourself, sure you can have others alongside of you, absolutely, but you have to know within yourself that you can do it and that you have the belief in you.
00:19:01.374 --> 00:19:05.721
And with the proving part, I I, as I said, I feed off of that.
00:19:05.721 --> 00:19:30.582
So I love when somebody tells me that I can't do something because I'm so used to that willpower inside of me and that drive where I say to myself okay, like I'm not only going to prove to myself that I can do it, but I'm going to prove and show you that I will be there on that Olympic team or I will show up for whatever event or case it is and I will be there.
00:19:30.582 --> 00:19:46.192
And because it's that belief I have in myself and that system that I've just created for who I am and that's really the hints of the comeback kid is because I will always come back and I'll always prove to anybody and everybody that I can do it.
00:19:46.653 --> 00:19:49.760
You know it's this training, is that perseverance?
00:19:49.760 --> 00:19:58.655
And you know, you said you never became a cheerleader and you never took a day off from training, and I feel like I never took a day off either for it.
00:19:58.655 --> 00:20:01.502
And that's why I was successful quite quickly.
00:20:01.502 --> 00:20:17.738
Once I figured out how to navigate these dating apps, I was like the Rocky Balboa of Tinder and no matter what, I just kept running, I just kept swiping, I just kept going, and I think that's the key.
00:20:17.738 --> 00:20:21.920
That's why I'm like if you can become an Olympian, you can find love on dating apps.
00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:22.842
Are you kidding me?
00:20:22.842 --> 00:20:30.423
But when you're alone, and so many people are alone with this pandemic and you're in your head, you tend to second guess yourself.
00:20:30.423 --> 00:20:43.443
And so I want to talk about imposter syndrome, because the two of us can swing from this pendulum often, and I want this show to be a support system for the listeners and to be that reminder that we can do it.
00:20:43.443 --> 00:20:45.979
So can you talk about imposter syndrome?
00:20:47.829 --> 00:21:55.784
Absolutely yeah, and I think, coming from such of a high level where I kind of struggle with it as in, because I was at that stage and quote, unquote the top, and now I'm like swinging right back to it where I have to know that it's okay that I'm not quote, unquote the top anymore and I can work my way back up to where I want to get to, and it's such a huge mindset of a switch to to know that it's okay to to have it and to grow with it, to be able to come stronger with why like to learn that identity and that what that is, to be able to keep going to the top yeah, because you, you talk about it like you're like I'm Kelly the skater, but then there's Kelly the person, and I had that too, where I had this career and I was in my career, and then it was like who is Carrie the person and how do I split the two?
00:21:55.930 --> 00:22:08.156
when I was dating, because I was a girl who competed at a high level, but you know daily, but then at the end of the day I just wanted someone to talk to and someone to love me.
00:22:08.156 --> 00:22:15.865
And so I think sometimes and I know from helping a lot of women there's a lot of successful women who listen to this show.
00:22:15.865 --> 00:22:31.334
There's a lot of successful women out there and sometimes people fall into the category that they're almost like too successful for their own good and then that becomes a block, and that shouldn't become a block, because what makes you successful is makes you amazing.
00:22:31.334 --> 00:22:37.263
So I don't know, I don't know if you want to expand on that or not.
00:22:37.691 --> 00:22:40.675
No, I totally can, because I feel like I fit right into that.
00:22:40.675 --> 00:22:53.732
And it's hard because being so successful and seeing you know other women and having you know their, the CEO or whatever the case is, you know that group of you know females.
00:22:53.732 --> 00:23:12.623
And I think I see it in others where it's hard to be able to meet guys on that same field, because the women that we are, and we've created for ourselves to be that successful, sometimes they are not as confident or they're timid because of what you have.
00:23:12.623 --> 00:23:26.854
I remember I had met a newscaster who had followed me to, actually, the Sochi Olympics from here in Cleveland, ohio, and she's maybe a year or two older than I am and she was having the same problem because she was very successful.
00:23:26.953 --> 00:23:28.699
She was a news anchor, you know this.
00:23:28.699 --> 00:23:30.991
She had her bio, you know the whole nine yards.
00:23:30.991 --> 00:23:39.454
And she, I remember her telling me it was so hard for her to meet a guy because of how timid they were, because of who she was.
00:23:39.454 --> 00:23:45.123
You know she's always on TV and she, you know she had everything set out for her to be.
00:23:45.123 --> 00:23:59.289
And so I I see it in other women just, you know, at the success that they have to be able to, you know, meet other guys, but that, um, if a guy loves you, I mean that doesn't stop them of what success you have.
00:23:59.671 --> 00:24:00.310
Right, right.
00:24:00.310 --> 00:24:10.037
So what I would say to that is she would need to vet these guys really fast and if they are, that's on them.
00:24:10.037 --> 00:24:17.682
If they don't like how successful she is, well, that's their problem.
00:24:17.682 --> 00:24:35.873
Through these people, and I would not take it personally, I wouldn't let it set you back, because I know for a fact my boyfriend pushes me every day to be my full potential and he's not threatened.
00:24:35.873 --> 00:24:37.836
Is it easy being me some days?
00:24:37.836 --> 00:24:41.922
No, but this is the package.
00:24:41.922 --> 00:24:44.766
You know, this is who I am and I can't change that.
00:24:44.766 --> 00:24:47.920
But I found love and everyone else can.
00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:54.364
But it's a combination of the mindset, the willingness, the timing, the putting the action forward.
00:24:54.364 --> 00:25:04.719
So I want to talk about the comeback kid, because people are hurting right now and the comeback is always stronger than the setback.
00:25:04.719 --> 00:25:09.778
But you know you were named the comeback kid in the Olympics.
00:25:09.778 --> 00:25:11.500
I mean that's pretty incredible.
00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:19.516
I mean that's your nickname, but that happened because you had an accident.
00:25:19.516 --> 00:25:24.099
Can you talk about what happened and how your life changed so profoundly?
00:25:26.761 --> 00:25:31.005
I actually love talking about this as a comeback is always stronger than the setback.
00:25:31.005 --> 00:25:33.047
And it's absolutely completely true.
00:25:33.047 --> 00:25:38.076
And walking into it, you have to know it is a total mindset.
00:25:38.076 --> 00:25:44.734
And laying on that ice with my foot hanging off as a double compound fracture, I had told myself you know I can look once because I knew my foot hanging off as a double compound fracture.
00:25:44.734 --> 00:25:47.124
I had told myself you know I can look once because I knew my foot was broken.
00:25:47.124 --> 00:25:54.082
At that time I did not know it was hanging on my leg and I had said I'm never gonna, I'm just gonna look at that once and not look again.
00:25:54.082 --> 00:25:55.432
And that's exactly what I did.
00:25:55.432 --> 00:26:06.023
But from that very exact moment when I looked and knew it wasn't attached to my leg anymore, that's the thought of never not skating again never crossed my mind.
00:26:06.023 --> 00:26:08.434
I knew I was going to get on that ice again.
00:26:08.434 --> 00:26:14.277
I knew I was headed to surgery and knew it was going to be a long road ahead of me, a long journey.
00:26:14.277 --> 00:26:20.258
I didn't know how many surgeries, but I knew I was going to come back.
00:26:20.258 --> 00:26:22.884
And it was exactly just like that six-year-old little girl.
00:26:22.884 --> 00:26:29.363
When you have that mindset, you have that mindset and it's that fire inside of you where absolutely nothing stops you.
00:26:29.363 --> 00:26:53.863
You have that drive and so, having that negativity as a setback to me, again, I used it as a positive and I used it as you know, I'm going to prove everybody wrong that I just didn't make the 2010 Olympic team and I now have four years ahead of me, but I'm going to use this ability to my best and I'm going to have the most fun with it that I can.
00:26:55.010 --> 00:26:58.441
I did all of my rehab at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
00:26:58.441 --> 00:27:01.858
I never was a girl that went to college.
00:27:01.858 --> 00:27:06.961
So Colorado Springs for me, I looked at it as my college.
00:27:06.961 --> 00:27:21.857
I had wanted to live there ever since I was a teenager and did inline speed skating, but of course, roller skates is not in the Olympics and long track speed skating is only in Salt Lake City and Milwaukee, so my odds were very limited.
00:27:21.857 --> 00:27:25.900
So getting to do rehab there was everything for me.
00:27:26.150 --> 00:27:28.234
My first month I was a little bit miserable.
00:27:28.234 --> 00:27:31.721
I didn't have many friends and just I.
00:27:31.721 --> 00:27:47.741
But I knew I was in the right spot and it quickly changed, uh, after I met one friend and then that led to another and the reason why I loved Colorado so much and why it was so special and not only became my support group but I also fell in love with.
00:27:47.741 --> 00:27:50.486
Fell in love with a gymnast.
00:27:50.486 --> 00:27:51.752
He was my first boyfriend.
00:27:51.752 --> 00:27:54.981
The men's gymnastic team was based out of there.
00:27:54.981 --> 00:28:06.374
My rehab just became so much more fun than it already had been.
00:28:06.394 --> 00:28:07.377
Uh, because of the person that I was with.
00:28:07.377 --> 00:28:10.426
And getting to do that journey, uh, you know, with him was so neat.
00:28:10.426 --> 00:28:29.769
And you know, to be able to kind of step out of that world where I didn't have to be Kelly the skater, I just got to be Kelly the athlete and step into others world, not only the gymnast that I dated, to step into his world and see how he competed, but all the other friends that I met, like the wrestlers, the swimmers and you know.
00:28:29.769 --> 00:28:35.482
So, to be able to support them and, you know, watch them grow was, was so remarkable.
00:28:36.290 --> 00:28:43.678
But going back to the love story, I mean it was a true, a true love story at the end of the day and I will always carry that with me forever.
00:28:43.678 --> 00:28:57.181
And to you know, just to make you know, I, like I said, I made rehab the best that I could and it was also because of that whole support group around me to be able to push through.
00:28:57.181 --> 00:29:01.017
And so I always say my foot hanging off was the best thing that could ever happen to me.
00:29:01.017 --> 00:29:16.250
And having the head doctor, you know, four years later being at the stands at my Olympic race is something that will always be so special to me, because it all goes back to that, you know, support group that I had, you know, leading up to it.
00:29:16.570 --> 00:29:17.352
It's so nice.
00:29:17.352 --> 00:29:21.856
So the gymnast could he do like a backflip to show you how much he loved you?
00:29:21.876 --> 00:29:27.442
I'm like thinking like Mitch Gaylord, what was?
00:29:32.089 --> 00:29:34.557
that movie where someone fell in love with a gymnast.
00:29:36.924 --> 00:29:40.453
This episode of Shot at Love is brought to you by Akal Chai Rum.
00:29:40.453 --> 00:29:48.559
Akal Chai Rum is the world's first botanical rum Recognized by the government of Trinidad and Tobago as having the first new production process for rum in over a century.
00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:58.501
Akal Chai Rum is an officially protected trade secret, Only the second such protected process in the Caribbean since the famed Angustora bitters by Don Carlos Siegert in the 1870s.
00:29:58.501 --> 00:30:01.795
Akal Chai Rum is available in 44 US states on ChaiRumcom.
00:30:01.795 --> 00:30:03.617
Chai Rum is available in 44 US states on chairumcom.
00:30:03.617 --> 00:30:06.522
Also available in the Republic of Ireland on stuffyouneedie.
00:30:14.087 --> 00:30:19.494
Try some today, but I'm a lot older so people don't remember my pop culture references, but it is.
00:30:19.494 --> 00:30:29.077
I heard you say that one time before that you allowed yourself to look once, but you told yourself that, with or without your foot, you would come back to the Olympics.
00:30:29.077 --> 00:30:34.354
And that is so amazing and I think you have to decide.
00:30:34.354 --> 00:30:47.944
And that's where I want to talk about you being single, because limiting beliefs really is the block for people, and I feel it's my job to help people dismantle them.
00:30:47.944 --> 00:30:58.480
And there are a million reasons why you can't do something, and there's a million reasons why you can do something, but if you want to find love, you just can't have any blocks.
00:30:58.480 --> 00:31:17.703
So you, right now, I'm going to be working on you to join online dating, but you're like I think I'm getting you to think a little bit more openly to it, but talk about that where you're not really like feeling the online dating apps right now.
00:31:17.703 --> 00:31:22.115
So there's a lot of people out there listening, so this is a good one to talk about.
00:31:22.596 --> 00:31:27.123
Yes, it is people out there listening, so this is a good one to talk about.
00:31:27.123 --> 00:31:27.384
Yes, it is.
00:31:27.384 --> 00:31:33.776
So, you want to meet someone.
00:31:33.776 --> 00:31:36.441
You want to meet someone organically and you want to date an NFL player.
00:31:36.501 --> 00:31:38.865
I mean you have to wait for the time.
00:31:38.865 --> 00:31:48.807
Yeah, I was laughing because I hung up the phone with you earlier today and I said I don't know what we're going to do about her because she's pretty zoned into dating just an NFL player.
00:31:48.807 --> 00:31:51.733
And my boyfriend was like you dated an NFL player.
00:31:51.733 --> 00:31:53.940
I was like, oh my God, I totally forgot.
00:31:53.940 --> 00:32:01.952
And I had to laugh because it was by chance that I met someone on Tinder that was a Patriots player and that happened.
00:32:02.173 --> 00:32:07.615
That's why you can find people that are successful on these dating apps and I know that to be true.
00:32:07.615 --> 00:32:23.291
But you know you're getting clear about what you want and you I would broaden it and maybe say I want to date an athlete because you have this athlete mindset and for me, I never really wanted to date a photographer because I already I had a photographer in my family with was my dad.
00:32:23.291 --> 00:32:27.221
So I find it interesting that I never really wanted to date a photographer because I already I had a photographer in my family with my dad.
00:00:03.028 --> 00:00:05.233
00:00:05.233 --> 00:00:16.815
00:00:16.815 --> 00:00:19.865
00:00:19.865 --> 00:00:28.170
00:00:28.170 --> 00:00:40.523
00:00:40.523 --> 00:00:45.191
00:00:45.191 --> 00:00:50.265
00:00:50.265 --> 00:00:56.003
00:00:56.003 --> 00:01:05.171
00:01:05.171 --> 00:01:07.147
00:01:14.501 --> 00:01:20.394
00:01:20.394 --> 00:01:30.662
00:01:30.662 --> 00:01:35.513
00:01:35.513 --> 00:01:44.375
00:01:44.375 --> 00:01:49.706
00:01:50.429 --> 00:01:56.466
00:01:56.466 --> 00:02:03.727
00:02:03.727 --> 00:02:10.907
00:02:10.907 --> 00:02:14.109
00:02:14.109 --> 00:02:26.670
00:02:26.670 --> 00:02:30.450
00:02:30.450 --> 00:02:32.186
00:02:33.381 --> 00:02:34.826
00:02:34.826 --> 00:02:37.487
00:02:37.487 --> 00:02:38.210
00:02:38.210 --> 00:02:39.665
00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:54.394
00:02:54.394 --> 00:03:09.632
00:03:09.632 --> 00:03:15.491
00:03:15.491 --> 00:03:17.740
00:03:18.161 --> 00:03:46.572
00:03:46.572 --> 00:03:55.647
00:03:55.647 --> 00:04:03.329
00:04:03.329 --> 00:04:12.348
00:04:13.169 --> 00:04:22.516
00:04:22.516 --> 00:04:25.740
00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:35.346
00:04:35.346 --> 00:04:57.072
00:04:57.713 --> 00:05:07.524
00:05:07.524 --> 00:05:14.627
00:05:14.627 --> 00:05:28.322
00:05:28.322 --> 00:05:34.093
00:05:34.093 --> 00:05:36.805
00:05:36.946 --> 00:06:02.704
00:06:02.704 --> 00:06:33.572
00:06:33.572 --> 00:06:36.526
00:06:36.526 --> 00:06:38.351
00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:41.122
00:06:41.122 --> 00:06:47.821
00:06:47.821 --> 00:07:02.107
00:07:02.107 --> 00:07:06.824
00:07:06.824 --> 00:07:17.620
00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:24.403
00:07:24.403 --> 00:07:35.095
00:07:35.095 --> 00:07:38.744
00:07:38.744 --> 00:07:46.463
00:07:46.463 --> 00:07:51.923
00:07:51.923 --> 00:08:01.112
00:08:01.112 --> 00:08:11.966
00:08:11.966 --> 00:08:17.567
00:08:18.548 --> 00:08:28.584
00:08:28.584 --> 00:08:31.130
00:08:31.130 --> 00:08:39.724
00:08:39.724 --> 00:08:43.730
00:08:43.730 --> 00:08:52.900
00:08:52.900 --> 00:09:07.715
00:09:08.500 --> 00:09:12.130
00:09:12.130 --> 00:09:13.585
00:09:13.585 --> 00:09:14.985
00:09:14.985 --> 00:09:22.267
00:09:22.267 --> 00:09:29.426
00:09:29.426 --> 00:09:32.331
00:09:32.331 --> 00:09:39.313
00:09:39.313 --> 00:09:42.024
00:09:42.024 --> 00:09:51.626
00:09:51.626 --> 00:09:54.809
00:09:54.809 --> 00:10:04.947
00:10:07.059 --> 00:10:17.192
00:10:17.192 --> 00:10:19.700
00:10:19.700 --> 00:10:41.328
00:10:41.328 --> 00:10:45.775
00:10:46.201 --> 00:10:50.110
00:10:50.110 --> 00:10:52.081
00:10:52.081 --> 00:10:57.653
00:10:57.653 --> 00:11:11.158
00:11:11.158 --> 00:11:18.322
00:11:18.322 --> 00:11:35.134
00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:50.870
00:11:50.870 --> 00:11:55.687
00:11:55.687 --> 00:12:04.474
00:12:04.474 --> 00:12:05.804
00:12:05.804 --> 00:12:09.325
00:12:09.966 --> 00:12:14.942
00:12:14.942 --> 00:12:20.313
00:12:20.313 --> 00:12:26.312
00:12:26.312 --> 00:12:32.932
00:12:32.932 --> 00:12:44.763
00:12:44.763 --> 00:13:00.984
00:13:00.984 --> 00:13:05.354
00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:08.003
00:13:08.003 --> 00:13:22.662
00:13:22.662 --> 00:13:32.393
00:13:32.393 --> 00:13:46.130
00:13:46.130 --> 00:14:03.788
00:14:03.788 --> 00:14:06.643
00:14:06.643 --> 00:14:24.903
00:14:24.903 --> 00:14:25.764
00:14:25.764 --> 00:14:28.451
00:14:28.451 --> 00:15:01.966
00:15:01.966 --> 00:15:05.964
00:15:05.964 --> 00:15:21.485
00:15:21.946 --> 00:15:27.532
00:15:27.532 --> 00:15:33.250
00:15:33.250 --> 00:15:48.452
00:15:48.452 --> 00:16:06.590
00:16:06.590 --> 00:16:13.321
00:16:13.321 --> 00:16:19.234
00:16:20.179 --> 00:16:20.721
00:16:20.721 --> 00:16:27.014
00:16:27.014 --> 00:16:29.341
00:16:29.341 --> 00:16:31.028
00:16:31.028 --> 00:16:34.149
00:16:34.149 --> 00:16:41.551
00:16:41.551 --> 00:16:46.530
00:16:47.472 --> 00:17:20.761
00:17:20.821 --> 00:17:34.561
00:17:34.561 --> 00:17:46.097
00:17:46.097 --> 00:17:57.215
00:17:57.215 --> 00:18:01.500
00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:03.237
00:18:04.630 --> 00:18:09.339
00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:12.574
00:18:12.574 --> 00:18:23.250
00:18:23.250 --> 00:18:47.244
00:18:47.244 --> 00:19:00.673
00:19:01.374 --> 00:19:05.721
00:19:05.721 --> 00:19:30.582
00:19:30.582 --> 00:19:46.192
00:19:46.653 --> 00:19:49.760
00:19:49.760 --> 00:19:58.655
00:19:58.655 --> 00:20:01.502
00:20:01.502 --> 00:20:17.738
00:20:17.738 --> 00:20:21.920
00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:22.842
00:20:22.842 --> 00:20:30.423
00:20:30.423 --> 00:20:43.443
00:20:43.443 --> 00:20:45.979
00:20:47.829 --> 00:21:55.784
00:21:55.930 --> 00:22:08.156
00:22:08.156 --> 00:22:15.865
00:22:15.865 --> 00:22:31.334
00:22:31.334 --> 00:22:37.263
00:22:37.691 --> 00:22:40.675
00:22:40.675 --> 00:22:53.732
00:22:53.732 --> 00:23:12.623
00:23:12.623 --> 00:23:26.854
00:23:26.953 --> 00:23:28.699
00:23:28.699 --> 00:23:30.991
00:23:30.991 --> 00:23:39.454
00:23:39.454 --> 00:23:45.123
00:23:45.123 --> 00:23:59.289
00:23:59.671 --> 00:24:00.310
00:24:00.310 --> 00:24:10.037
00:24:10.037 --> 00:24:17.682
00:24:17.682 --> 00:24:35.873
00:24:35.873 --> 00:24:37.836
00:24:37.836 --> 00:24:41.922
00:24:41.922 --> 00:24:44.766
00:24:44.766 --> 00:24:47.920
00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:54.364
00:24:54.364 --> 00:25:04.719
00:25:04.719 --> 00:25:09.778
00:25:09.778 --> 00:25:11.500
00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:19.516
00:25:19.516 --> 00:25:24.099
00:25:26.761 --> 00:25:31.005
00:25:31.005 --> 00:25:33.047
00:25:33.047 --> 00:25:38.076
00:25:38.076 --> 00:25:44.734
00:25:44.734 --> 00:25:47.124
00:25:47.124 --> 00:25:54.082
00:25:54.082 --> 00:25:55.432
00:25:55.432 --> 00:26:06.023
00:26:06.023 --> 00:26:08.434
00:26:08.434 --> 00:26:14.277
00:26:14.277 --> 00:26:20.258
00:26:20.258 --> 00:26:22.884
00:26:22.884 --> 00:26:29.363
00:26:29.363 --> 00:26:53.863
00:26:55.010 --> 00:26:58.441
00:26:58.441 --> 00:27:01.858
00:27:01.858 --> 00:27:06.961
00:27:06.961 --> 00:27:21.857
00:27:21.857 --> 00:27:25.900
00:27:26.150 --> 00:27:28.234
00:27:28.234 --> 00:27:31.721
00:27:31.721 --> 00:27:47.741
00:27:47.741 --> 00:27:50.486
00:27:50.486 --> 00:27:51.752
00:27:51.752 --> 00:27:54.981
00:27:54.981 --> 00:28:06.374
00:28:06.394 --> 00:28:07.377
00:28:07.377 --> 00:28:10.426
00:28:10.426 --> 00:28:29.769
00:28:29.769 --> 00:28:35.482
00:28:36.290 --> 00:28:43.678
00:28:43.678 --> 00:28:57.181
00:28:57.181 --> 00:29:01.017
00:29:01.017 --> 00:29:16.250
00:29:16.570 --> 00:29:17.352
00:29:17.352 --> 00:29:21.856
00:29:21.876 --> 00:29:27.442
00:29:32.089 --> 00:29:34.557
00:29:36.924 --> 00:29:40.453
00:29:40.453 --> 00:29:48.559
00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:58.501
00:29:58.501 --> 00:30:01.795
00:30:01.795 --> 00:30:03.617
00:30:03.617 --> 00:30:06.522
00:30:14.087 --> 00:30:19.494
00:30:19.494 --> 00:30:29.077
00:30:29.077 --> 00:30:34.354
00:30:34.354 --> 00:30:47.944
00:30:47.944 --> 00:30:58.480
00:30:58.480 --> 00:31:17.703
00:31:17.703 --> 00:31:22.115
00:31:22.596 --> 00:31:27.123
00:31:27.123 --> 00:31:27.384
00:31:27.384 --> 00:31:33.776
00:31:33.776 --> 00:31:36.441
00:31:36.501 --> 00:31:38.865
00:31:38.865 --> 00:31:48.807
00:31:48.807 --> 00:31:51.733
00:31:51.733 --> 00:31:53.940
00:31:53.940 --> 00:32:01.952
00:32:02.173 --> 00:32:07.615
00:32:07.615 --> 00:32:23.291
00:32:23.291 --> 00:32:27.221