Daley Thompson

We crave instant success these days. If you are a really good sprinter and long jumper, you don't want to spend two or three years on a whole new set of events. You're used to doing well and it's difficult to give that up. ”

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. ”

I've still got a small fitness and conditioning business where I travel round the world doing stuff for individuals and corporations, mainly fitness training. ”

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. ”

What used to drive me was the fact that I wanted to be better than everybody at something. One of my best qualities is that I used whatever other people found to be an adverse thing to be a positive thing for myself. ”

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. ”

Even if you've been involved in a World Cup, the Olympics is huge. Only the Games has the power to change communities. ”

For kids it's natural to be competitive. ”

Sometimes you have to resist working on your strengths in favour of your weaknesses. The decathlon requires a wide range of skills. ”

I am an education ambassador, mainly working with schools. ”