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.

There are lots of women tennis players, for instance, but because not many of them seem to have much personality, they're interchangeable. You don't have a feeling about them.

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

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.

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.

Most people doing the decathlon these days are quite boring, so people don't relate to them.