I always liked running as a kid. You know how eating chocolate or ice cream makes you feel good? That's the same way that running and competing makes me feel.

The thing I like about decathlon is also the thing I dislike: It's the maximum challenge, but also the maximum frustration.

The desire definitely comes from within. There are only a few people who make it to this level and those are the ones who have that innate desire.

Last year I was the favorite going into the world champs in Beijing, but I felt like I had to do something phenomenal in order to win. Instead of just having fun and competing, it became "I want to win so bad." But the person who wants it the most doesn't win. It's the person who executes. I still look back on that 200-meter race and say what the hell happened? I wasn't hurt, I wasn't sick, the conditions were perfect, and I ran like total crap.

To do the best that I possibly could in my world makes me pretty happy.

You can't really explain competing in Olympic event to someone. You can say, "Oh, that was really tough." And that literally means nothing to someone. If you can give some sort of comparison, because that's really all track and field is about any way....Usain Bolt runs a time and you get to see what everybody else's time is. It would just be interesting to compare Olympians to somebody who doesn't train their whole life.

I want to see where I measure up against everyone in the world and everyone who has ever competed in the sport, and there's that innate sense of wanting to challenge myself. I'm competitive in all aspects.