I still don't think the world has seen the best Andre Ward. Initially, I just wanted to get in there and win.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I have the mentality of a winner. I first went to the Olympic Games when I was 17, three weeks after my O-levels, and I remember sitting in a dining-hall filled with the world's best athletes.
People could see in me who I am now, an Olympic champ, the best in the world.
I'm in awe of any Olympic champion, for sure.
Going back in time, the best sportsmen ever have been Olympians.
You just try to absorb as much as you can from someone who has won as many races and championships as he has. Career wise, he's been the greatest thing that's happened to me.
I never looked at my mantel and envisioned an MVP trophy sitting there. This is pretty crazy.
Andre Agassi was my rival in the '90s, and I think as we got older we sort of transcended the game. He was probably the best player I ever played over my career. There's a list of players that were tough, but Andre, certainly, he was the most unique.
Just before I got down here I had a chance to see Agassi play another game and he smoked another player, which was nice to see. Someone who a lot of people thought couldn't come back and now he's winning.
My first Olympics memory was watching Haile Gebrselassie in Sydney 2000. His sprint finish to defend his title really moved me.
I've never run into a guy who could win at the top level in anything today and didn't have the right attitude, didn't give it everything he had, at least while he was doing it; wasn't prepared and didn't have the whole program worked out.