Overview
- He recalls starting gymnastics at four and prioritizing training over typical teenage life to chase the goal of being the best.
- He says his biggest personal regret is missing his own high‑school prom because he was at a training camp.
- Looking back on his Olympic arc, he recounts hating his 2008 bronze as a top favorite and acknowledging a misplaced medal focus in 2012, with an Achilles tendon rupture disrupting his push to improve.
- He explains choosing to delay surgery on a long‑standing shoulder injury for Rio 2016, using cortisone to compete despite limited training and then winning horizontal‑bar gold.
- He notes the immediate physical cost of that gamble, describing post‑final arm mobility limited to about 90 degrees, and he remains a public figure as a TV expert and entertainer, including on RTL's Let's Dance.