Denise Lewis

“I use Palmer's Cocoa Butter on my body most days.”

“When I was an athlete I never listened to music because I was constantly so engaged with my own self and body.”

“When you are in a sport, there is a plan to reach for perfection in a certain week in August and it gives you a focus in life and in everything you do around it.”

“I like my glass of wine, but I work for it. You can't expect to maintain that sort of level of physique if you don't do something.”

“I still wanted to see it officially on the scoreboard but, when it was announced 'Denise Lewis is Olympic champion,' it was just like a volcano of elation, relief and satisfaction exploding through my system.”

“I love meandering down the streets of Tuscany and the food tastes like it's been kissed by the sun.”

“Winning that gold medal in Sydney really did change my life.”

“I don't miss competing at all.”

“I did the long jump and hurt my foot. It was a stress fracture in the left foot, which even now, 12 years on, is the bane of my life.”

“You cannot just be on the go all the time. That was me. I know I have to just let it go sometimes.”

“Life presents us with lots of forks in the road - big choices that define what kind of a person we are and how successful we become.”

“The thing is athletes get more confidence the more they race, the more they are hitting personal targets - it just gives you confidence.”

“During my pregnancy I ate healthily, stayed fit and carried well.”

“There was always that steeliness about me, even as a youngster.”

“Growing up in a terraced house in Wolverhampton, just me and my mum, I don't know where I got my love of sport from.”

“My mum is a perfect example of agelessness.”

“I never knew my father.”

“I'll never forget how frustrated I felt when I didn't make the team for Barcelona in 1992.”

“I keep asking myself if my joints are going to hold up.”

“I love babies; there was a need in me for one more.”