You need to become more than one type of athlete. You have to be a sprinter, a weight man and a distance guy all in one.

As athletes, we're defined by what we've accomplished. Those are what most people remember and what you get paid for. But I learned more from my failures than from all of my successes put together - failures as an athlete and as a person.

Nowadays, to be a good world-ranked decathlete, you need to be good at everything.

As a young athlete, it was first about having fun; then it was about winning.

The more successful I become, the more I need a man.

When first starting to work with someone you try to get them in the same mindset that you were in when you were successful, and I realized the best thing you can ever do is realize that they are not you. They have a different persona and mindset, and you have to figure out what works best within your communication with that athlete.