Colin Jackson

“For me, the indoor season was always good preparation for the summer. I never actually thought 'I must prepare for the indoors' - everything was geared towards the outdoors.”

“When you break a world record you're making history. It really lifts you in status in your sport at the time.”

“I think you judge a runner by the way they inspire you. The person who inspired me the most was Edwin Moses, so I'd put him up there as the greatest runner ever.”

“I'm blessed to still live in Wales. We have the beaches, the mountains, the food, the people of course. We have a huge passion and spirit for being Welsh. Whenever I leave, I'm always anxious to get back.”

“Sport is the place where people come together from all creeds and colours to really celebrate their performance ability.”

“I'm in constant pain but you learn to live it with it.”

“I'm the first to admit that I have never been the greatest team player.”

“My biggest vice is having bought solid gold watches over the years. I concentrate on brands like Cartier and Tag Heuer. I would not spend money on an Aston Martin because it would depreciate. Gold is different. Some of my watches I never wear because I feel they will drop in value.”

“If I'm not clean-shaven I'm not happy going out the door. I have to run a quick razor over my face to make sure my skin's nice and smooth.”

“When you've sustained a bad Achilles injury you can't even hop, and if you can't hop powerfully then you can't hurdle or practise the long jump. You can't even plant your foot for the javelin.”

“I had great medical back-up and a great coach, Malcolm Arnold, who always took care to condition me very well. He could spot when I was stressed, so he would lighten the training load. I still had seven knee operations but I didn't grumble.”

“There is no doubt that the European Indoors is an important event for British athletes.”

“From a young age, I've suffered from hay fever. So my hay fever, unfortunately, is both tree and grass pollen.”

“In life, you get rejected more than you get accepted, and you have to understand that. So you have to invest in yourself and work hard.”

“In my career I was plagued by bad knees, but I very rarely arrived at a major championships with pulls, because you can prepare for them.”

“You need to give yourself a fighting chance on this planet. Health, fitness and cooking good food for yourself are the few things in life that we get the total benefit from. So I eat well and do some form of exercise every day.”

“I trained for years with Linford Christie and I know the phenomenal work Linford put in for his 1992 gold.”

“I'm praying for a miracle because I really don't want knee replacements and I don't want to be in a wheelchair.”

“An Achilles injury stops you perfecting things.”

“The fieriness that the Maroons had, first with their fight with the Spanish and then the English, I think I've got that in me now. Because when I lined up on many occasions to compete for Great Britain, it took a lot of heart and soul to get out there and to really be at war with my competitors.”