Brittney Reese

“I want to come back to the IAAF World Championships in 2019 (in Doha) and be mentally and physically strong and for that, I need to rest my body.”

“After one or two IAAF Diamond League meetings and the US Championships, I’m thinking ‘shut it down’ because if I want to continue on this path of winning medals, I have to take care of my body and my mindset.”

“I know it’s my destiny to be here so I’m living out my destiny.”

“My grandma taught me to be humble and I always kept that in my mindset. I’m always cool but I’m just being me - I don’t feel the need to brag, boast or ask for attention because I know what I’ve done for myself.”

“I can only focus on myself but I like how the event’s getting stronger - I think we’ll have some surprises.”

“I’ve watched the long jump closely this season so I can tell the event is going to be strong but I’m not worried about anybody else - I know what I need to do and the mark I want to hit - and that mark will win.”

“Mentally I’m strong and my 6.88m was my first time going off a full approach. In my first two meets, I had fouls which were close and they were 7.26m and 7.11m so I know I’m where I need to be.”

“I’m a competitor, I don’t like to lose so I’m here to win. I train with guys such as (2012 world indoor triple jump champion) Will Claye and I always look to beat them also - it’s just the inner beast in me.”

“Right now, I’m real confident in what I’m doing - I know it will be tough but I want to make history and if I get the national record, that will be fantastic.”

“I just want to make sure I inspire him to do great things in life in general and he inspires me also.”

“My son’s a real athletic kid - he wants to be a shot putter and he’s into baseball and football right now. I have all of my medals in a stand in my living room so he can see them but I need to make him understand that sometimes it’s ok to lose, He doesn’t get to see me lose that much.”

“A lifetime dream of mine is to be a coach so I will absolutely go back into it, I love being able to give back to the community.”

“I was raised by my grandparents and we have the old mentality that we have to give back and never forget where you came from - that’s always stuck with me since growing up so that’s why I’ll always work with the youth.”

“My inspiration is certainly the youth, Athletes are role models and I feel the kids are the future so we have to get to them first.”

“Take the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, for example. I struggled in prelims and only qualified in the 12th and last spot. Yet I still had a belief I could win in the final, which I did. This is always very important.”

“Throughout my career I have always had a belief I can be the best. Even when times are tough, I always believe I can win.”

“As a top professional athlete you need to be coachable. That is something I pride myself on. I can make corrections. If the coach picks something up regarding my landing, I feel I can make that adjustment very quickly by listening to him. To be coachable as an athlete is important.”

“They [her coach and others] can't beat me. We take it seriously and play for a championship belt. I feel very sad when I lose. If I finish second or third in a competition, before bedtime I'm back looking at the video to see what went wrong. When things go wrong I'm willing to try new things.”

“I love to compete. If you don't love to compete it is hard to be a competitor. I'm competitive at whatever I do. I play H-O-R-S-E [the basketball game] with my coach. Neither of us wants to lose and we both take it very seriously. I usually win: I'm the queen of the court.”