Team USA on Representing Their Country at the Olympics & Paralympics

[upbeat music]

I think Team USA is a team that everybody looks up

to when it comes to sports, when it comes to greatness

and being an athlete, we have the best,

we foster such greatness.

So, it means a lot to be part of it

because we value sports, we value what sports can do,

and representing a team like that means a lot.

Representing Team USA in the Olympics

is like the biggest honor that there is.

To be wearing USA across my chest, going for gold medals,

playing with and against the best players in the world,

there's nothing like it,

and that's why it's just like in a class of its own.

I feel like I'm on top of the world.

I feel like a superhero.

There's only so many people that get to wear

that Team USA uniform and I wear it with respect and honor,

and it feels good to represent my own country

and have that USA across my chest.

Just being able to wear the flag

and the crest on my jacket and on my heart,

and being able to listen to the anthem when I win

and put my hand right here is absolutely incredible.

There's no other feeling like it.

There's a quote that I love that says,

Oftentimes, we're so wrapped up in what we have going on

and we don't realize we're in the middle

of what we used to pray for.

I'm in the middle of what I used to pray for

as a little kid, so I never take that for granted.

I'm unbelievably grateful.

I sit here, appreciate all the million variables

that are moving so fast 24/7 because this is what my 10,

11-year-old self used to pray for.

I think the best way to put it is

it's really just an honor.

I mean, when you hear the national anthem playing

after winning a big event

or you're able to put on a USA like gear

of any sort, you really feel it.

There's a different level to it

where you're representing your country,

especially at the Olympics.

It's always so incredible and so humbling.

I think for me too, like, I represent my Hawaiian culture.

I represent people with my disability.

I carry the weight, but I am so grateful to,

and I think it's been an incredible team to be on.

Representing Team USA gives me a whole new meaning

to what I do.

I think a lot of athletes are constantly asked

why they do it,

and I think that answers kind of always revolve around

the passion they have for the sport, which is so true.

But a whole other reason for skateboarders now

is to win medals for their country.

And that's what I really feel like my purpose is.

Incredible.

Pride, joy, feels like you have the support

of millions of people behind you,

millions of people rooting for you

to bring home a medal for Team USA.

When I was little, I was always kind of jealous

of my friends who were like joining the military

and not because I wanted to go to war,

but because I saw them

as representing something bigger than me.

When I found out that I could represent America

through a sport, that was like a game changer for me

because now I get to still fulfill my dream of wanting

to represent something bigger and representing America.

Like that's awesome, right?

So, it makes me very prideful

and still something that I hold very high

in my book of accomplishments,

probably, honestly, higher than winning medals.

The team didn't qualify last time

and you were on that team

and you guys have done such a good job

of like letting us know that it's not a given

that you're gonna make it to the Olympics

and that you have to put in so much work.

Because I was on the team when we missed out

on the Tokyo qualification in 2019

and that was obviously incredibly devastating

to miss out on.

To be able to have had that low

and then have that high, I think makes

that moment even more special.

And like to be able to celebrate it

with like amazing athletes like Abby is just unbelievable.

It makes it so special to like have

that like just honored to be a part of it.

I feel really proud of representing Team USA

because I probably can do anything.

Yeah, and be myself on the stage.

Growing up as a kid in sports, you look

and look up to all these Team USA athletes

for your whole life

and just being on Team USA is the pinnacle of sports

in the United States.

So, to be able to be on that team and represent my country

and kind of fulfill my dreams is everything to me.