Quote

I'm competitive. I like to compete, and that's basically what the decathlon lets me do.

Even though decathlon is really long, there's always something different to look forward to, which is great for mental stimulation.

Most people doing the decathlon these days are quite boring, so people don't relate to them.

The thing I like about decathlon is also the thing I dislike: It's the maximum challenge, but also the maximum frustration.

I love getting out of bed for competition.

During the decathlon, I always think only of the next event and my personal record.

When I lost my decathlon world record I took it like a man. I only cried for ten hours.

When I was young and ocean-racing competitively, and working the rest of the time, I was going 24 hours. I was on the verge of collapsing. But you've got to slow down a bit.

There's never going to be a decathlon that you're going to have 10 events that your satisfied with. You're always, always going to be dissatisfied in something, and that always draws you back to try to retry that the next time you do a decathlon. It's like you go for the perfect 10.

Before the decathlon I'm constantly trying to convince myself that I want to do this, that I want to take myself to that place where it's going to hurt and things are going to be tough. But that's like anything - you want to give your best.