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The next great decathlete is going to be a runner. I still feel that a Dan O'Brien, if he was a runner and not a sprinter, could have gone over 9,000 points.

I couldn't beat Michael Phelps. A couple of years ago, I was racing against him and it just kinda dawned on me during the race that there was no chance I was gonna beat this guy. And so I said, if you can't beat him, find a race that he won't swim.

A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.

He was not a runner, my father, but he was quick. I always remember it was very difficult to escape from him when he was angry. If he wanted to beat us he would always catch us. Even me, he could always catch me.

We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.

I like a man who can run faster than I can.

A guy like me, yes, I am good in terms of championship races, and that's where I dominate - but in terms of running fast times, I haven't quite done that.

You have to know this: running a 100m race is an intense experience. You have a lot of emotion at the end of the race. It is not easy to control that when you win.

In the marathon a crazy athlete can just keep pushing from the beginning, at a championship you don't need a time just to win the race.