Ashton Eaton

“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.”

“In high school, I had a gold 1992 Ford Explorer. It was a gift. I used to have a terrible habit of locking the keys in the car when I used leave the car running to help it start on a cold morning. I think the local locksmith became used to me calling him.”

“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.”

“I dated my first girlfriend for, like, two weeks in high school, and when you're in high school, it's so much different. I wanted to hang out with my friends and play video games and play paintball and do guy stuff. Girls were never around for my friends group.”

“I think when the competitions come, I am always ready to go. I don't think I ever have not been.”

“I guess the decathlon's never an easy walkthrough.”

“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.”

“From the time I started the decathlon, I've loved the event. I didn't know why. I still don't know why.”

“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.”

“I can't remember when I wasn't running around doing some sort of a sporting activity.”

“My local newspaper, the 'Bend Bulletin,' interviewed me while I was at high school after I had just signed with the University of Oregon. I remember I wore a University of Oregon hooded sweatshirt, and they took a picture of me in the long jump pit. I was freezing!”

“It has been a pleasure being in the same era. I mean, the guy's last name is Bolt, and he's the fastest man ever. You can't write a story like that, and so to be in the pages in there is nice.”

“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.”

“When you have an injury, you are hindered a little bit.”

“You see somebody on a football field make a great, athletic 70-yard run, but the athleticism is immeasurable. It's undoubtedly athletic, but compared to somebody else who did something else, how do you compare it? That's the great part of track and field. It's a test, but with results that you can compare to others.”

“As you get older and gain more experience, you're able to do multiple things. You don't necessarily have to focus so hard on your performance in order to have a good one.”

“A perfect scenario would be to feel like you've just started on every event.”

“Universities are like a utopia in a way, because you're mentally stimulated, you're challenged, and you have a lot of young, creative minds wanting to do new things, different things. Better things.”

“I must refine my training every day to give myself the best opportunity to achieve my dreams during the Olympic Games in Rio.”

“I was never interested in golf until someone brought up the Get Golf Ready program to me.”