You can't live your life through your children.

I'm not running for state Senate because I wanted to become a politician. I'm running because I wanted to serve.

I'm very serious about becoming a dramatic actor. I don't want to play cameo parts walking on as Carl Lewis the athlete. I want to go on stage or screen and be taken seriously.

I'm not supposed to be able to speak clearly, and decipher what's going on in the media. I'm supposed to be the typical amateur who's 22 and scared to death and can't believe he won the Olympics.

I have no intention of lingering through a season, just to have a chance to be an alternate on a relay. I don't want that.

Channel your energy. Focus.

'm so fortunate to have done what I love to do for so long, but the day I retired was one of the best days of my life. Not because I was happy to get away from the sport, but because it was clear in my mind that I had done all I possibly could, and that it was time to go.