I am not the one who has to try to beat me.
— Ashton Eaton
As a decathlete, you take pride in saying, 'The elements, I'm not going to let them affect me. It's just the 11th event. Another thing you have to fight through.'
To win two Olympic golds in a row like Daley Thompson is very special. One day, I'm going to have to meet Daley, shake his hand, and thank him for giving me something to chase after.
When I was growing up, I used to watch 'Power Rangers' and 'Ninja Turtles.' It seemed like every movie had someone doing martial arts in it, so I would go around punching and kicking trees.
When you're doing any event on an elite level, you're in tune with your body.
I am actually a huge supporter of the Canadian athletes, and they are all really nice people.
When I was a junior and an up-and-coming athlete, I don't think I looked to anyone for inspiration. I was so busy trying to improve myself and learning these new events and learning about the decathlon in general that I didn't really have time to focus on anyone else.
It's hard for me to speak of my own development. I'm the one behind the steering wheel, and it is easier to see where the vehicle is going when you are looking at it. For me, it feels like I have been doing the same thing all along.
Rather than realizing immediate physiological gain, the challenge is more about reducing the mental attrition from the two days to maximize each event.
I'm a second-degree black belt.
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.
Now that I'm older, I see the benefits of having free time to release energy.
I could never be a distance runner, because I can't run for more than ten minutes. There aren't enough iPod gigabytes in the world to make that worth it for me.
I would say 90 percent of the stuff we do is technical anyway. If you look at a two-hour training day, 12 minutes are probably spent running or gaining fitness.
The strong ones are the ones who realize that having a bad training day, those types of days are necessary.
When I'm later in the competition, I get antsy. I'm seeing everybody else go and achieve things. It's like I'm just twiddling my thumbs.
I'm a 'what's next?' guy. I don't know what that is, but I'm excited to find out and put the same kind of energy into it as I put into track.
I think when the competitions come, I am always ready to go. I don't think I ever have not been.
If I really felt like I was the world's greatest athlete, I'd get 10 great events. But I know that's pretty much not possible. That's the toughness of the decathlon.
Even if you see a great performance, it's not always great getting there. There are injuries... Intrinsically or unconsciously, people understand that - people see those performances, and they know there are stories behind that.
I do the whole 10-event thing, but at the end of the day, it's still track and field.
I can't remember when I wasn't running around doing some sort of a sporting activity.
I had a dream, my dream came true, and my mom was there for me every step of the way. We didn't do this for any other reason. I am so happy she is here to experience this with me. This would not be the same if she were not by my side.
When you have an injury, you are hindered a little bit.
From the time I started the decathlon, I've loved the event. I didn't know why. I still don't know why.
The more you do, the more attrition you experience.
From the age of seven, I basically started practicing my hand-eye and foot coordination, balance, strength, endurance, discipline, and mental toughness three days a week until I was about 15.
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 remember growing up, having sports to go to, having recess, those were the things I looked forward to. Yes, I'm an athlete, but I had buddies who weren't, and they looked forward to it, too.
Even though decathlon is really long, there's always something different to look forward to, which is great for mental stimulation.
What I feel like I'm doing is showing people what is humanly possible when someone commits their entire life to something.
What you do is you're using the other competitors to push yourself, because it's so hard to push yourself.
As athletes, we love to say, 'Just one more; I'm going to figure it out on this next one.' It's tough to pull back the reins and do what is smart physically, listening to your body and always ending a workout or session feeling like I could have done more.
It's about not going to the well all the time. The body has limits. The mind has limits, too.
I think watching multi-events is much worse than competing. Especially when you have vested interests because you go through the emotional ups and downs.
For me, I want 10 perfect events.
My mom took me to a taekwondo class, and I fell in love. I was seven years old.
If somebody wants me to do something I've never done, I can do it more easily because of all of the years of sports I've played.
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.
My mom and I have been through a lot. But when you think about it, whose life is perfect? It is just really good because we did this together.
Coping with injuries is always difficult for athletes because all we want to do is, basically, to have our best performances unhindered.
The heptathlon world record is nice, but the decathlon is the event. I think the heptathlon is more like a practice. There is something completely different about the decathlon.
A perfect scenario would be to feel like you've just started on every event.
I compete against myself in competitions anyway, so I train against myself in practice.
I think what's at risk is kids losing touch with being a kid. Being a kid is being defined differently than it was when you didn't have all this stuff you could put in front of your face.
My biggest competitor? Myself, mentally.
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.
That's what we want people to do. Select a goal or gold and go after it.
We all understand that this isn't about me beating you and you beating me. It's about each individual competing against himself.
I wouldn't have gone to a Division I school if I didn't have scholarship help. We couldn't afford it.
