I wanted to be a neurologist. That seemed to be the most difficult, most intriguing, and the most important aspect of medicine, which had links with psychology, aggression, behavior, and human affairs.

They would say, 'If you run around too much as a girl, you'll never be able to have children.' The running was supposed to be too much strain for your body, and your body would never be the same again.

There should be a minimum on the air pressure but not a maximum. Every game, they're taking air out of the footballs I'm throwing, and I think that's a disadvantage for the way that I like them prepped.

I like that Pilates compromises the mind and body. It's not just about being able to run around the block a few times. It's about alleviating stress and controlling breathing. It's about being balanced.

I've got the 30 drive right now. You turn 30, I don't know, life is exciting again; thirties is when you've got it all figured out. You start reaching some of your goals, and achieving some great things.

I lived on the top of one hill and the school was at the top of another hill. Nobody ever went to school by car - we didn't have any cars during the war. So that to and from school was itself a training.

Everybody eats a little differently, but the more where you are aware of what you put in your body and how it affects your performance, the better opportunities you have. And that's what I'm trying to do.

It makes me sick to see a superior runner wait behind the field until 200 meters to go and then sprint away. That is immoral. It's both an insult to the other runners and a denigration of his own ability.

I like coming home because nobody knows who I am. In Cookville, I'm Rich. I'm not a big deal. People like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, they just can't live a normal life and you do feel sorry for those guys.

The human spirit is indomitable. No one can ever say you must not run faster than this or jump higher than that. There will never be a time when the human spirit will not be able to better existing records.

Our house was bombed, and the roof fell in. We were sitting under the stairs of the basement, and we were quite safe, but it brought home the realization. In two nights 400 people were killed in small town.

I've said to people before that I'm going to do my very best to make it, and I'm not going to give up. And that's true. But I might not make it. And if I don't make it, the Marathon of Hope better continue.

When I was going through my transition of being famous, I tried to ask God, why was I here? What was my purpose? Surely, it wasn't just to win three gold medals. There has to be more to this life than that.

When I'm out there, you just have to react. That's why you work on those throws. When you're in the moment, you can't think to yourself, 'How do I get this to go 47 yards and be 2 yards inside the sideline?'

Without an adequate supply of micronutrients, not only are we less likely to sleep deeply, recover briskly from exercise, ward off sickness, and fully exploit our brainpower, we get hungry. And we stay hungry.

What I know is that my upbringing was always the man was the head of the family. It's a European tradition. We always look up to the man. But this is old times. Now what I believe is that I'm definitely equal.

Part of me wonders if I had worked with more female psychologists, nutritionists and even coaches, where I'd be today. I got caught in a system designed by and for men which destroys the bodies of young girls.

Walking the runway with Alexander McQueen, I really had to dig deep. You're with Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. I was the first person out on the runway, but I thought, 'I have done the Olympics, I can do this.'

I didn't see how wearing prosthetics was quite so different from being born with flaming red hair in a crowd of black-haired babies, or being of a different religion from that of every other child in your area.

It's freaking football. There are going to be big hits. I don't understand how they can do this after one weekend of hitting. And I can't understand how they can suspend us for it. I think it's a bunch of bull.

I was told over and over again that I would never be successful, that I was not going to be competitive and the technique was simply not going to work. All I could do was shrug and say "We'll just have to see".

It's a question of spreading the available energy, aerobic and anaerobic, evenly over four minutes. If you run one part too fast, you pay a price. If you run another part more slowly your overall time is slower.

By kipping, you are able to generate power from the hip, transfer it through the body, then into your arms, creating a movement that originates in your core and moves to your limbs, and also generates more power.

The Athletic Association competed against the University. So there was an event. You cannot break world records unless it is an established event, and you have three timekeepers, and the whole thing is organized.

I think being recognized more is something you have to get used to, whether it's your homeland or when you're traveling. People recognize me from my play or a commercial I've done. It's just a normal part of life.

I've coached people who were ranked number one in the country but didn't get any support while other areas of sport got medium to full funding, even though the individuals had no hope of getting on to the rostrum.

During my early days as a sportsman and early career as a policeman, things were tight. In athletics I competed as an amateur and, although I might have received some expenses, very little came my way in earnings.

I think for me, I've always come back to the fact that I feel most alive when I'm racing. That sounds very cliche, but for me the reason I feel that is because racing is that opportunity to really find your limit.

It definitely is very exciting running against professionals now. Many of the runners in my races have amazing resumes and a lot of experience, so I just remind myself that every race is just a learning experience.

Part of the reason I wanted to model was to push the boundaries and challenge the perceptions of what a beautiful body is supposed to look like. Why should I feel any differently about looking good than anyone else?

I take magnesium to prevent cramps. A few years back, I suffered from hamstring tears, and part of that can be to do with muscle cramping, and then pushing the muscle at that point. I also take a fish oil supplement.

I had always wanted to become a neurologist, which is one of the most demanding vocations in medicine. Where do you stop, after all, with the brain? How does it function? What are its limits? The work seems unending.

Good health, peace of mind, being outdoors, camaraderie - those are all wonderful things that come to you when running. But for me, the real pull of running - the proverbial icing on the cake - has always been racing.

At the end of the day, as long as you kind of focus on what you can do and what you can achieve and what's in front of you, that's all you can be doing and all you should be doing. Anything else is probably unhealthy.

In life, you don't really know what's coming at you. Like a firefighter, or police officer, or anyone else working in the emergency field, they don't know what's going to come at them. You gotta be ready for anything.

Every time I compete, I still get nervous. There are the nerves that are because 'oh this is really going to hurt,' then there's the, 'I have to go fast and I don't know how fast everyone else is going to go,' nerves.

No one knows the fear in a front runner's mind more than me. When you set off at a cracking pace for four or five laps and find that your main rivals are still breathing down your neck, that's when you start to panic.

I want to be the best. I want to be counted on by my teammates. I want to be counted on by this organization and the fans. I want to be someone they know is going to bring it every single week. I prepare to be the best.

I've gotten to know a lot of great people here in all the different sports. It's fun. It's fun to get involved where you live. And this is where I live. I'm a registered voter here. I have my Wisconsin driver's license.

I have found great power in taking my 'difference' out for a spin in a very public way. And usually, the worst, most personally embarrassing thing you imagine in your mind is often not anywhere near as bad in real life.

Definitely stick with a program for more than a week or too. You've got to ride the program out - a lot of people like to hop around on things, but to get a real good base you've got to stick to a good strength program.

You know, I think there are certain words like 'illegitimate' that should not be used to describe a person. And certainly, we have come far enough in our technology that our language can evolve, because it has an impact.

I'm not always the favourite to win, but I still enjoy it. The main thing is that I've planned for it and even if the result isn't great, I know I've done the best I can do. It's being true to, and believing in, yourself.

In the U.S., track and field struggles and I am such a trackie. I love the sport. It's one of those things where if I could garner a little more attention for it or make it a little more exciting, I would love to do that.

I get to do what I love every day, and I've got a great group of people around me that I have fun with. And working out is something I'll do for the rest of my life, so I might as well try to be as good at it while I can.

The thing I love about Wisconsin is the people. We have such incredible people here. It's fun to recognize the incredible athletes and coaches and sponsors and people we have here tonight. But we also have incredible fans.

For me, it's always been about preparation, and the more prepared I can be each week, the less pressure I feel and the more confident I am. As your confidence grows, it's only natural that the pressure you feel diminishes.

I didn't want to be written about as a human-interest story. I didn't want to be a passing thing. You know, now we move on to the fat girl who had her stomach stapled. I didn't want to become a gimmick: the disabled model.

If you would ask me at 15 years old if I would have traded prosthetics for flesh and bone legs, I wouldn't have hesitated for a second. I aspired to that kind of normalcy back then. But if you ask me today, I'm not so sure.

It's not volume, nor is it calories that we biologically hunger for. It's micronutrients. And until we receive enough, the hunger signal will continually urge us to eat. Thankfully, there's a simple fix: nutrient-dense food.

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