For kids it's natural to be competitive.

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.

If you work hard in real life, people tend to get in your way - either from inertia or prejudice - and they stop you achieving things. It's the worst thing about real life compared with sports, where you generally get what you deserve: if you're the fastest guy, you win; there are no other games being played.

I tend to eat vegetables only when I'm with the kids and the rest of the time, I'm a bit slack. But, I am weight-conscious, so I concentrate on avoiding junk food.

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

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.

I didn't even know what it was when I started. But I was lucky. I found it at 16. Most people don't discover decathlon until they're 21 or 22.