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I'm not maximized yet.
I'm a second-degree black belt.
The decathlon is exclusive company.
We are competing against ourselves.
My biggest competitor? Myself, mentally.
I guess the decathlon's never an easy walkthrough.
The more you do, the more attrition you experience.
I actually like indoor track and field more than outdoor.
When I'm on the track, I like hearing the fans cheer me on.
It's important not to make the gold medal bigger than it is.
I'm just happy to be part of the family, the decathlon family.
When I see my mom in the stands, it always pushes me to succeed.
Track and field is tougher physically, but golf is tougher mentally.
To do the best that I possibly could in my world makes me pretty happy.
That's what we want people to do. Select a goal or gold and go after it.
My key to dealing with stress is simple: just stay cool and stay focused.
I don't have one specific person that I think is the most athletic person.
A perfect scenario would be to feel like you've just started on every event.
Competition is pretty much the essence of everything, it gives humans drive.
Now that I'm older, I see the benefits of having free time to release energy.
When you're doing any event on an elite level, you're in tune with your body.
If I won a second Olympic title, maybe I would be tempted to go after a third.
My goal in Korea is to win. There's no timetable when to set the American record.
I won't back down. I get a satisfaction from being tested and defeating the test.
The opportunity to represent your country at the Olympic Games is earned, not given.
I can't remember when I wasn't running around doing some sort of a sporting activity.
I do the whole 10-event thing, but at the end of the day, it's still track and field.
I compete against myself in competitions anyway, so I train against myself in practice.
I am actually a huge supporter of the Canadian athletes, and they are all really nice people.
I think that titles are for, I don't know, books and stuff. I just like doing what I'm doing.
To be with the other two-time gold medalists is great, but it's great to just be a decathlete.
I think when the competitions come, I am always ready to go. I don't think I ever have not been.
I always try to do better than I have before, so I think it would be good to break the world record.
I wouldn't have gone to a Division I school if I didn't have scholarship help. We couldn't afford it.
I haven't played a full round of golf yet, but I did make two pars my first time out on a golf course.
From the time I started the decathlon, I've loved the event. I didn't know why. I still don't know why.
What you do is you're using the other competitors to push yourself, because it's so hard to push yourself.
I'm very happy to have set a world record in Tallinn. Estonians sure do love athletics and combined events!
The strong ones are the ones who realize that having a bad training day, those types of days are necessary.
If I have to run to put myself in the hospital, if I have to run that hard, that's how hard I'll have to run.
Know that even when you want to give up or throw in the towel, in the end it will all be worth the hard work.
I think a challenge for myself is to see how many times I can get above 9,000. That would be a good challenge.
I haven't seen kids in years who have holes in the knees of their jeans. Now you go buy jeans with holes in them.
I wouldn't say there was a moment of realization when I wanted to be a runner; it was always just something I was.
That is when the crowd really lifted me. That last 600 meters I was not running with my own legs. It was incredible.
I'm not much of a gym rat; I'd rather be running, but if it enables me to run faster, then I guess I can tough it out.
I don't set goals. Competing with a number in your head can be limiting, and I don't know what my capabilities are yet.
What I feel like I'm doing is showing people what is humanly possible when someone commits their entire life to something.
The only thing I want to think about the moments before a race is competing. I don't want the little things to distract me.
The thing I like about decathlon is also the thing I dislike: It's the maximum challenge, but also the maximum frustration.