In Rio de Janeiro on Thursday (11th August), Allison Schmitt of the United States of America spoke about her future after winning the women's 800 metres freestyle relay at the Olympic Games.

SOUNDBITE: (English) Allison Schmitt, US swimmer:(Comparing this Olympics to her previous ones after difficult personal journey).

"Yes, this Olympics means the world to me. I have not been able to represent the U.S. on the national A team since 2012 - so to be able to go through those lows, I think I've learned a lot more about myself... and I'm able to appreciate it. I realise that these things don't happen every day and to not take any of them for granted because... I mean, I'm loving life."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Allison Schmitt, US swimmer:(On friend and training partner Michael Phelps and the past year).

"Yes, we still have days when we have our ups and downs but he went into every practice with a good attitude... he made it enjoyable. The days that he was down I tried to bring him up, and days when I was down he could see that in me and try and bring me up. I mean, there are times when we would be so slap-happy and laughing on the way to practice, belting out country songs or just laughing at the silliest things."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Allison Schmitt, US swimmer:(On depression and her future).

"I have a passion in spreading awareness for mental health and destigmatising the negativity around that. I know that eventually I want to go and learn the scientific background about that - I want to go back and get my Masters (degree) so that I can talk about the scientific background as well as the experiences that I've had... hopefully save some lives, and, I mean, we'll see what the future holds farther down the road."