Retiring was hard. I'd spent 15 years doing something I loved, but when you get older everything seems to go. When I started spending too long with the physio and the doctor, I knew it was time to call it a day. But I had no preparation for being retired and I didn't know what to do.

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

Most people doing the decathlon these days are quite boring, so people don't relate to them.

Athletes these days are too robotic. People like to see performances filled with emotion. In my career I tried to be amusing, to differentiate myself from the other champions.

But if kids take up things like hockey and football they will go back to it.

Being a decathlete is like having ten girlfriends. You have to love them all, and you can't afford losing one.

When we stage the Olympics it will inspire kids all over the country. A kid in Scotland or Ireland will be encouraged to take up sport.