Greg Rutherford Quotes

I felt I was never going to beat Igor Ter-Ovanesyan or Ralph Boston because they were the joint world record holders.

I want to be looked at as one of the greatest sprinters of all-time.

Prior to the 1976 Olympics, I was a 5,000m runner.

Nowadays, to be a good world-ranked decathlete, you need to be good at everything.

My favourite event was the 200m, so as I won the 100m, I thought it was possible I'd win the 200m.

Sochi will be my third Olympics, and I'm coming into these games in a stronger position than I've been in years past.

Speed is more important than endurance in the decathlon.

Fantastic, I am very happy to be the fastest 800 metres runner in the world.

This is the home of hurdling, and the Americans are the kings of the event.

Nike came to me and said, 'We're interested in the decathlon and interested in seeing if we can help you get as close to 10,000 points as we can.'

What does it prove, running in the AAU meet?

The 200 m. is the event I want to get better at.

If I had to be in the Olympics, I suppose I would do the javelin throw.

I love watching track and field - the 4x100 relay, the 100-(meter) dash, the 200-(meter) dash. To see what they're able to do, I love watching that.

At the end of the day, if you're a professional athlete in track and field you are the CEO of your company.

The records fell easily at first. Dozens of seconds peeled away with every running of a course, and I could hardly wait for the next chance to improve.

I've probably given myself enough time to prepare for this meet and we're all different athletes so I can't take their results as what's going to be inevitable for me.

During the decathlon, I always think only of the next event and my personal record.

I have a phenomenal team behind me who have helped get me here and I, along with them, will now put everything we can into the final few weeks of preparations before the Olympic Games, where I am aiming to race well, work well through the rounds, post good times and maybe even a personal best time on the biggest stage of them all.

I was running track early in my years and I was breaking track records in sprint running. I was training and I wanted to be in the Olympics. I thought I was going to be able to win a gold medal, and my mind was pretty much set on 'this is what I want to do'.

I tried to make the Olympics team in 1956.

The London games mark the 24th anniversary of my winning two golds and setting the world record in the heptathlon. Someone is going to want it; records are made to be broken - it's only a matter of time. I hope mine will outlive me.

Already in 2007 I thought I would be able to break the World record in the near future. That time Sammy Tangui was the pacemaker in Lausanne. I liked the way he was running. He is tall, he has a strong body and his stride is similar to mine. I told him in one of the coming years I would need him when I try to break the World record.

I think four Olympics is probably enough. Five Olympics is a long time, but there's nothing wrong with that if I'm into it and I'm healthy and my priorities can fit around that.

But I'm after medals more than anything. Championships don't get taken away from you but records do, so I think I'd rather have medals at every championships rather than times. A world record would be a bonus, but I'm still only 25 in 17 days.