I wouldn't swap the era I competed in for anything, not a day of it. I started out as an amateur, and people like myself, Seb Coe, Steve Ovett, Steve Cram, Tessa Sanderson and the rest did it for the glory of winning medals for our country.
Interpretation
The quote expresses pride in one's competitive era and the true passion for sport beyond personal gain.
Daley Thompson reflects on his athletic career, emphasizing that he values the time he competed for its spirit and the honor of representing his country. He conveys a sense of nostalgia and pride for the dedication shown by himself and his contemporaries, suggesting that their motivation stemmed from a passion for achievement rather than commercial success.
In practice
During a speech at a sports awards ceremony to inspire young athletes.
I was in the doldrums for a while after my athletics career ended in 1992. I spent six to eight hours a day training, for 18 years, and it took a long time to get over the regret that I wasn't competing in major championships any more. All I ever wanted to be was the best. But I find new projects and I keep things in perspective.
In sport, if you want to be the best you have to compete against the best - I would much rather have come tenth and be judged against everyone than come first and be judged against just a few.
I did not want to be the best black man of the year; I wanted to be the best man of the year.
Being a decathlete is like having ten girlfriends. You have to love them all, and you can't afford losing one.
The less versatile you are, the better you have to be at what you do well.
Conditioning is essential to success in basketball.
Luck is the residue of design.
The truth is that I don't have a favourite goal. I remember important goals more than I do favourite goals, like goals in the Champions League where I had the opportunity to have scored in both finals I have played in. Finals in the World Cup or Copa del Rey are the ones that have stayed with me for longer or that I remember more.
The same instincts that make us good students can make us lousy entrepreneurs.
If you want your company to succeed, you have to have the confidence in your business to take a bet on its future - to risk destroying a mediocre business model for the chance to have a strong one.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.