"To me, the decathlon is its own little society and I am part of that culture."

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

"I think what my parents did was perfect. They were strict, concerned about my safety and held me back just a little."

"It really means a lot that I won the gold medal - but I woke up the next morning expecting to feel different. I felt the same."

"You have to be able to be a good loser. You have to be okay knowing you're going to fail every day in something without getting mad and upset."

"The decathlon includes ten separate events and they all matter. You can't work on just one of them."

"Through everything I've gone through- and I've been everywhere, at the top of the world, in jail, hung over drunk - I never gave up my dream of winning a gold medal in the Olympics."

"As a young child, I was never a crier. I never cried to get my way, or even when I was in pain."

"If you never give up, you'll be successful."

"There is nothing better than having a personal-best day, being in shape and pushing myself beyond my own limits."

"It took me time to realize that the men who won Olympic gold medals in the decathlon are just men, just like me."

"Take pride in exactly what it is you do and remember it's okay to fail as long as you don't give up."

"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."