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

In my heart of hearts my motivation would always have been to be the best, and I think that athletics is probably what I was built for.

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.

I think one of the things about being a good coach is to recognise when you have given all that you can. In fact there should be some sort of unspoken law that says that a coach cannot have anyone for three or four years - if you have not passed on most of the stuff you know in that time, then you are not doing a good job.

People tend to like an athlete's performance, but if you don't get a feeling for the individual, you're not very emotive about them.

We crave instant success these days. If you are a really good sprinter and long jumper, you don't want to spend two or three years on a whole new set of events. You're used to doing well and it's difficult to give that up.

Having the ambition of becoming Olympic champion is a whole different ambition from wanting to be the greatest.