“We want and expect to win the silver or gold. A bronze would be a step back. In fact, we think it would be a put-down if we don’t win the silver or gold.”

[on BBC’s Sherlock] It’s a rare challenge, both for the audience and an actor, to take part in something with this level of intelligence and wit. You have to really enjoy it. It’s a form of mental and physical gymnastics.

The rest of the world laughed at American gymnastics before I came.

In gymnastics, smaller will always be better in many ways. The stress in the head, that will be the same for all. But the stress on the body and the concussions it must endure, that will always be easier for the little ones.

The Olympics shows the community what gymnastics is all about.

You have to have competent people evaluating the athlete, not the housewives!

The gymnasiacs of Venice, in California, are so addicted to these practices that there has arisen a nation of men who can no longer put their arms against their sides

I was lucky enough, when I was younger, to have the chance to do as much as possible, and I found what I wanted to do. I did swimming, gymnastics, kickboxing and the one that took off more than the others was acting.