Kids are starting at such a low base rate in terms of fitness that it's taking them years to catch up to where people like me started from. Every little bit is making it more difficult for kids to succeed on a world stage.

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.

The decathlon takes so long to learn that people who are good athletes don't want to go back to the beginning again.

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.

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.

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

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