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.

There's no day when I don't think it would be great to be 25 years old and have the Olympics coming in less than 300 days - and be the best in the world. I can't think of anything so motivating.

I am an education ambassador, mainly working with schools.

I'm obsessive. I want to know the answer to how good I am. Most people aren't.

It's good to be difficult to know. Too many people are too easy to know.

I have the mentality of a winner. I first went to the Olympic Games when I was 17, three weeks after my O-levels, and I remember sitting in a dining-hall filled with the world's best athletes.

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.