Sebastian Coe

“There may be problems we still need to tease out, but we will leave no stone unturned in our bid to make London the host city.”

“I don't want to go back into politics - absolutely not.”

“My motivation to compete was always about improving one year to the next. At 34, I realised I'd never run any quicker, so why hang on? But I love running and still run along woodland trails and beaches every few days.”

“I know many people who are actually queasy about the idea that their kids may harbour sporting ambitions.”

“The Olympics are a world apart from racing for a record. You put out of your mind pretty much what anyone else doing in the race.”

“I'm a Chelsea season-ticket holder, and I've supported them for 37 years, so any judgment of Manchester United by me is seen as biased.”

“Nobody ever becomes an expert parent. But I think good parenting is about consistency. It's about being there at big moments, but it's also just the consistency of decision making. And it's routine.”

“I started daily training at the age of 14. When I was 16 years old, I was running twice a day.”

“Since the break-up of the 1990s, Russia has not had winter sports facilities. All the winter sport venues were effectively located in countries that are no longer part of the federation. There is a strong argument for saying Sochi's legacy will be this country will have winter sports facilities it did not have before.”

“I think I'm probably just an old-fashioned Tory. I don't wake up each morning trying to figure out what kind of Conservative I am; for me it's quite instinctive.”

“Charlie Parker was a genius, as was Lester Young.”

“Quite simply the Games are the biggest opportunity sport in this country has ever had. It is one that we must not squander.”

“Our success in Singapore was a Herculean effort by the whole team. Now I am determined to deliver on all we promised. I will be watching like a hawk.”

“Marathons don't come to you overnight.”

“Sacrifice is going to war for your country. Sacrifice is a brave young man being blown up by a landmine in Afghanistan.”

“My mother was Indian, brought up in Delhi. My grandparents were born in Bow and Poplar.”

“Sport was an integral part of school life. The most influential teachers were not necessarily the PE teachers, but the teachers who helped me in sport because they had an understanding of what you were going through.”

“When the subsidies are going out there to fund arts, I'd like to see jazz given a better shake of the dice. It attracts as many people as opera does, but not the subsidies.”

“I'm probably one of the few people who can say I did all three types of state sector schooling.”

“Inspirational leaders need to have a winning mentality in order to inspire respect. It is hard to trust in the leadership of someone who is half-hearted about their purpose, or only sporadic in focus or enthusiasm.”