Jordan Chiles

Transcript

Jordan Chiles:

Never thought in a million years I’d be at my second Olympics. Ever. Now look.

Your dreams are very powerful. Every dream that I dreamed of has became my reality. Like one after another, it’s been crazy.

Self-expression is the biggest thing that I was able to take out of everything that I’ve gone through. I didn’t think I was beautiful, so I got two faces on me that represent beauty. I have “pray” before every meet. Me and my parents would pray together, and so I got that. And then on my right side, it’s just my beautiful Olympic rings. And this is like my armor, my, you know, my rock.

There have been so many challenging moments within my career. I felt like I was in a box. There was no light. So that’s when I went to my parents and I was like, “Look, I got to do something about this.” I was like, “I can’t be stuck in a place where I’m going in circles.”

I successfully got out of it because of the people around me. And then from there on, my story kind of just took off.

Everything that I’ve done, from my Olympic Games to being on covers of magazines, I never thought those things would come true as a little kid. Now I’m able to really walk into a room and never allow anybody to dim my light.

My biggest goal is just to inspire the younger generation of understanding, like, anything is possible, right? You want to become a doctor? Go do it. Uh, yes, bestie, go do you. But also understand that every road isn’t perfect.

I wanted to collaborate with Kids Mental Health Foundation because you guys have the resources. You guys have everything that you need to do to make sure each kid is understanding who they are. If you have those people who are around you that can uplift you, it can be a little easier. You can pick up that next puzzle piece and be like, “Oh, yeah. This one does fit.”

Kids mental health starts with us. Check out my story at KidsMentalHealthFoundation.org.