How Do Team USA Celebrate Their Big Wins?
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.