Daley Thompson

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. ”

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

I was in the doldrums for a while after my athletics career ended in 1992. I spent six to eight hours a day training, for 18 years, and it took a long time to get over the regret that I wasn't competing in major championships any more. All I ever wanted to be was the best. But I find new projects and I keep things in perspective. ”

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. ”

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

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 am only about winning and getting better. ”

We live in the best place on earth but at times the worst. ”

But if kids take up things like hockey and football they will go back to it. ”

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