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Before me, sprinters retired at 23 or 24. I run because I still like it, I can make a living, and I feel I was born to do it. And because people tell me I can't do it.

I'm a runner from sports. I've been a runner, but I wasn't a cross-country runner or anything like that. I played a lot of soccer growing up.

I played sports year around: basketball, soccer, softball and I ran track year around, from the time I was, like, six, seven.

When I was a little boy, I always wanted to run. I loved competing with my friends.

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.

I ran track in high school. I was a fragile young man, personally and physically. I tried football. That didn't work out; I broke my collarbone. But I always loved running.

My first Olympics was Munich in 1972. I am better now than I was then, in knowledge and experience. The age of top riders generally tends to be older than in other sports because it takes a lot of time to be consistent.

I actually ran in junior high school a little bit, you know, like most kids do in track and things. Then I got out of it and just trained for football and played ball for so many years - high school, college and the NFL.

I grew up an athlete. Track and field and dance. In track, I actually went to the Junior Olympics. I've always been very athletic.