Clare Balding

“Swimming and athletics are the big gigs at the Olympic games. Cycling and rowing are pretty big for Britain, but globally, the two big things are athletics and swimming.”

“You come across words all the time that are everyday sexism. I was described as 'competently bossy' and 'bossily competent' by a male journalist, and I thought, 'Gosh, 'bossy' is never used of a man.'”

“Particularly when you're young, you're terribly flattered by people who like you, so you think you love them.”

“I really love good food occasionally, but I need time to enjoy it, and I need to be hungry.”

“I felt like a misfit at school, and I think that's quite common.”

“The most important quality in a partner is a sense of humour.”

“Like so many kids, I just wanted to fit in, and I see now that I spent most of my life trying to be what I wasn't, trying to get people to like me.”

“I hate being alone, even for 10 minutes.”

“On the beach, I take my clothes off under a towel.”

“Women's sport helps break down a lot of barriers for women in other areas, whether in religion or politics.”

“The British have a unique relationship with horses. They are etched into our landscape in chalk, they have been written about, painted, sung about, celebrated and gambled upon for centuries.”

“I have never understood the clamour for waif-like women whose flesh acts merely as a thin veil for their bones - much as I would love to be thinner, I would hate to take it so far that I had no actual shape at all.”

“A lot of interviewers are looking for the dark side. They want to know about the depths of your despair and fear.”

“When you're little, your father is your hero. Mine was. Then it all becomes more complicated.”

“If you look back at British history, women being allowed to play sport in schools meant they had to change their clothing. They couldn't be running around in their long skirts and corsets, because you can't.”

“I've always been fascinated by intelligence and how our brains work, and how they can be improved.”

“Having thyroid cancer in 2009 really didn't change my life at all. I wish I could say that I had this epiphany. But I knew I was lucky before that, so it's not like I suddenly realised how lucky I am.”

“Not everyone has to have children. If everyone had two or three, we'd run out of room.”

“I play golf - even though I'm awful at it.”

“Dad is a really surprising guy. Every time I think he's going to be useless, he ends up doing something amazing and saying exactly the right thing.”