Competing is exciting and winning is exhilarating, but the true prize will always be the self-knowledge and understanding that you have gained along the way.

To anyone who has started out on a long campaign believing that the gold medal was destined for him, the feeling when, all of a sudden, the medal has gone somewhere else is quite indescribable.

All pressure is self-inflicted. It's what you make of it or how you let it rub off on you.

The nine inches right here; set it straight and you can beat anybody in the world.

Vision is a romantic thing. We have got into 'talent identification'. I am much more interested in passion - finding people who are really excited about doing something.

Sport is a universal language, building more bridges between people than anything else I can think of.

Tomorrow is another day, and there will be another battle!

If you lived in Sheffield and were called Sebastian, you had to learn to run fast at a very early stage.

World records are only borrowed.

Blink and you miss a sprint. The 10,000 meters is lap after lap of waiting. Theatrically, the mile is just the right length: beginning, middle, end, a story unfolding.

I became a great runner because if you're a kid in Leeds and your name is Sebastian you've got to become a great runner.

The worst mockery God can make of a moralist is that He compels him to be asolipsist.

Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.

Like tiny gods, all that we say and do holds a power so great that any one of us in any given moment can be responsible for the birth of a new civilization or the collapse of our own.

That's always the worst: the not knowing. Because then you're stuck with a hundred questions no one can answer.

A moment of reserve. "That was it? The whole story?""Yes. God, you're right. That was pants."I sidestep another aggressive couscous vendor. "Pants?""Rubbish. Crap. S

My mother was the sweetest lady who ever lived on this planet, but if you tried to tell her that Jesus wasn't a Christian, she would stomp you to death.

It doesn't take much to be good, but it takes a lot to be real good.

Science is the process of thinking God's thoughts after Him.

Constantly there's a credibility issue; you're judged on how you look. If you look good, people assume you aren't credible. It's a battle you'll always fight if you're on TV and a female.

If you're a creative person, what inspires you is always changing; it's always shifting.