Having the ambition of becoming Olympic champion is a whole different ambition from wanting to be the greatest. Daley Thompson Read Quote
You can be an Olympic champion in 9.5 secs, but to be the greatest, there’s more to it. It takes a bit of forethought and a lot of mental application. Daley Thompson Read Quote
People tend to like an athlete’s performance, but if you don’t get a feeling for the individual, you’re not very emotive about them. Daley Thompson Read Quote
There are lots of women tennis players, for instance, but because not many of them seem to have much personality, they’re interchangeable. You don’t have a feeling about them. Daley Thompson Read Quote
Even if you’ve been involved in a World Cup, the Olympics is huge. Only the Games has the power to change communities. Daley Thompson Read Quote
I didn’t even know what it was when I started. But I was lucky. I found it at 16. Most people don’t discover decathlon until they’re 21 or 22. Daley Thompson Read Quote
The decathlon takes so long to learn that people who are good athletes don’t want to go back to the beginning again. Daley Thompson Read Quote
Athletes these days are too robotic. People like to see performances filled with emotion. In my career I tried to be amusing, to differentiate myself from the other champions. Daley Thompson Read Quote
If you work hard in real life, people tend to get in your way – either from inertia or prejudice – and they stop you achieving things. It’s the worst thing about real life compared with sports, where you generally get what you deserve: if you’re the fastest guy, you win; there are no other games being played. Daley Thompson Read Quote
