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.

Sport fosters many things that are good; teamwork and leadership.

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

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

You can be an Olympic champion in 9.5 secs, but to be the greatest, there's more to it. It takes a bit of forethought and a lot of mental application.

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 stopwatch doesn't lie. The tape measure doesn't lie.