I was running sub-13 minutes for 5,000 when I was still coached by Alan Storey, and I won double gold at the Europeans in 2010.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
To win Olympic gold has been a dream for me for seven or eight years now, so it was amazing to actually achieve that.
It wasn't my plan to create such a record. All I did was put in the effort to win every match I played and it went on for weeks, months and years until my defeat to Ross Norman in Toulouse in 1986.
I was very hungry to compete internationally when I was 10 years old, and I was good enough to compete, so that part never made me afraid or worried at all. When I was at my peak, around 12 and 13, I won my junior national and senior national titles back to back.
Over the years, I've made many sacrifices to win two Olympic gold medals and put together winning streaks that will never be broken.
I was only 18 and I'd be 22 if I was competing at London. I'm stronger and more experienced and I know I would have won gold.
I won player of the year and players' player, two cups and two championship medals, had a great time.
I was playing rugby and the other games English school children do, and there was an event in which races were run, and I won these by a considerable margin.
Prior to the 1976 Olympics, I was a 5,000m runner.
Two days after returning from Montreal, I was training again, and I went on to win two more golds at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
I played for 30 years, 20 with England and I did it by setting goals.