Winning is the goal for every athlete, but how do they like to celebrate being named the best? Whether it's blasting ABBA or tucking into a delicious dessert, SELF asked Olympic and Paralympic Team USA how they celebrate winning gold at a competition.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00We just come together and like I think connecting with my teammates after we've won a big game
00:08like that is just so fun and I love to just like make sure my teammates know the little
00:13moments that they did well like, hey you ran at that line really hard or man that tackle
00:18you made led to this so that they understand these little moments lead to that win.
00:22I celebrate a big win by being with my family, usually having pizza, I love pizza and I just
00:29want plain, I want cheese that's it.
00:31A lot of tequila, honestly I'm going to be truthful right here, a lot of tequila, a lot
00:36of laughing and a lot of good times.
00:38I love margaritas, so like I have to have a margarita with extra salt, in Paris it will
00:43be obviously champagne, obviously, but just celebrating with my family and you know your
00:49teammates and your coaches and everyone there that helped get you there and helped make
00:54this moment reality.
00:56Usually we go to like McDonald's, like get some ice cream or I mean those types of things,
01:01sometimes there's champagne involved, but just have a good time with the team.
01:05Believe it or not, I'm always a winner, so unlike most athletes, I do not wait until
01:09the end of the race for someone to hand me a medal and me to feel like a winner.
01:13Before trials, I'm going on vacation, going on a big vacation and going to celebrate my
01:17win pre-eminently, so I like to celebrate beforehand, get it out the way so then all
01:23I got to do is work after.
01:24Everyone loves to go out after a big win, obviously, but just honestly, my biggest form
01:29of celebration is not training and just being lazy and doing whatever I want.
01:34That's one of my favorite things after competing, you just get to kind of breathe and not have
01:38to worry about getting up super early the next morning to get to training.
01:41Champagne.
01:42Nah, I'm kidding.
01:43So celebrating a big win for me is always going to see my horse, showing him the ribbons
01:47that we got, giving him carrots and kisses and his peppermints, which are his favorite,
01:51and then just spending time with my family and friends and talking through the win with
01:56my coaches and making sure that all the little things that were not great, even though I
02:01got a win, were going to be worked on on the next day.
02:03I love to celebrate with my friends and family, I always call everybody after I win.
02:08After a big meet, I always like to treat myself, whether that's like some funny little burger
02:14joint or like a nice fancy meal, it's just fun to do something different than what you've
02:18been doing for the last months, grinding and getting ready for a meet.
02:21Our team likes to sing a lot to celebrate a big win, I hope nobody ever hears a sound
02:27bite from it because I'm sure it wouldn't be a pretty sound.
02:30One of our teammates really loves Mamma Mia, so inevitably a Mamma Mia song by ABBA ends
02:36up in there.
02:37I really like sweets.
02:38So whenever it is I head back into the States, I will go and spend $20 of my software consultant
02:45money on insomnia cookies, it's just one serving of a brownie and ice cream, but it's
02:51a good purchase.
02:52Maybe I have a day off, hang out with my friends, night out in the town, in the city, just enjoy
03:00each other's company and celebrate with each other, or just chill at home, play some Wii.
03:06Just really I like to be with people though after a win, you kind of just get to ride
03:11the high a little bit more and just celebrate together.
03:13We have so many videos with our team, like there's a video of us like screaming, jumping
03:19up and down, we're like lifting up our coaches, and it's just so much emotion that pours out
03:24of you in that second, and I like to like go back and just re-watch those videos over
03:29and over again.
03:30I don't really celebrate a lot.
03:32After my wins it's usually on to the next one, but my focus is usually about providing,
03:38in my mind, okay I just provided, the real reason why I'm doing it is to motivate my
03:43family, provide for my family, and motivate the world.
03:46I get the whole family on the golf course and take money off my siblings, which seems
03:50to be my favorite thing in the world.
03:52I try to celebrate a big win with dessert.
03:57I love sweets, particularly cherry, anything cherry, cherry pie, cherry turnovers, cherry
04:03ice cream.
04:04When I put the bar down, I can like throw it down and yell and I'm just like jumping
04:09around.
04:10That doesn't really come out too often, like an honest celebratory moment, so those are
04:16like a few times in my career where I've just like lost all control, just so excited and
04:21so happy that I successfully made the lift.