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.

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.

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 think a challenge for myself is to see how many times I can get above 9,000. That would be a good challenge.

I won't back down. I get a satisfaction from being tested and defeating the test.

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

I feel it's right for me to wear a Canadian flag baseball hat. Regardless of the fact that my wife is Canadian and I would support her throughout, the spirit of the Olympic Games is to have all these countries together to push each other.