When I lost my decathlon world record I took it like a man. I only cried for ten hours.

There are lots of women tennis players, for instance, but because not many of them seem to have much personality, they're interchangeable. You don't have a feeling about them.

I was in the doldrums for a while after my athletics career ended in 1992. I spent six to eight hours a day training, for 18 years, and it took a long time to get over the regret that I wasn't competing in major championships any more. All I ever wanted to be was the best. But I find new projects and I keep things in perspective.

Sport and health are so important to our nation that they deserve to be right at the front of people's minds.

There were only ever two black kids at my school. I never considered myself to be 'a black kid'. I was who I was. Which isn't to say things haven't happened to me that wouldn't have happened if I wasn't black.

The only limitations are mental. The guy who thinks positively will win.

Ever since I was a kid, whatever situation I was presented with, I always made the most of it.