Before the decathlon I'm constantly trying to convince myself that I want to do this, that I want to take myself to that place where it's going to hurt and things are going to be tough. But that's like anything - you want to give your best.
I was blessed with certain gifts and talents and God gave them to me to be the best person I can be and to have a positive impact on other people.
It's not necessarily size that matters, it's how fast you move that implement.
If I look what sport has done in my life, I don't think there's any doubt that sport can change lives.
My life was very Japanese.
I love Broadway. And, I listen to country music, which I think a lot of people find surprising.
I do catch myself driving around singing tunes, but I don't know if it's necessarily show tunes.
It's kind of fun to hear that other people deal with the same kinds of issues that you do.
You don't have to sacrifice who you are to follow your beliefs.
Repercussions are serious and they will take you places.
I have a black lab named Luke.
I like golf, hiking, camping, boating and fishing.
You take yourself to a place where you've got absolutely nothing left and then you find out you have to push yourself one more step. That's a tough place to be in.
We have to lie to ourselves as decathletes and say that we like all ten events.
Our house was always full of grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins.
Breaking the world record has always been in the works. I just need the right conditions and I can make it.
How many times do you take yourself to the brink of complete collapse? It's not a real fun place to go.
For so long I wanted to win the gold medal.Then I won. I had to figure out what was the new motivation to take myself to that place again.
I don't think anyone chooses the decathlon as much as it chooses you.
I think to actually be an Olympian to me means that you've trained most of your life, or you've dedicated most of your life or a big chunk of your life into doing something that you believe that you can accomplish.
I train six to seven hours every single day. I wake up six days a week and know that it's going to be the same thing.
It's not easy waking up every single morning knowing what you're going to put your body through and having to do it. We don't have days off.
I've been telling people I'm in the best shape of my life, I've been training unbelievably hard.
I'm excited to be a part of the Olympic movement again.
I'm competitive. I like to compete, and that's basically what the decathlon lets me do.
