Being a decathlete is like having ten girlfriends. You have to love them all, and you can't afford losing one.
Interpretation
Being a decathlete requires devotion and balance across multiple disciplines, much like managing several close relationships.
Daley Thompson's quote likens the commitment and effort required to excel in a decathlon to the emotional investment one makes in multiple romantic relationships. Each event represents a different aspect of a decathleteβs skills, requiring love and attention, just as each relationship requires care and nurturing. The implication is that to succeed in either arena, one must be dedicated and capable of balancing different demands without neglecting any single aspect.
In practice
During a motivational speech about teamwork and dedication in sports.
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.
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.
With football, you can have up to 28 guys you consider starters, and if they can pick up the slack when some aren't playing so well, you don't have to turn those two-game losing streaks into six-game losing streaks.
In 1960 when Pittsburgh beat us in the World Series, we outscored them 55-27. It was the only time I think the better team lost. I was so disappointed I cried on the plane ride home.
I remember going from rookie ball to A, to double A, then to triple A. At every level it seemed like the game was faster. The bigger the situation, the more the game speeds up. That's all mental. It messes people up.
Boxing is a sport, but it's also entertainment. I wanted to transcend the sport and be considered just not as a fighter, or a champion, but someone very special.
In my opinion, baseball is as big a business as anything there is. It has to be a business, the way it is conducted.
Can you do inter-gender matches? Ronda Rousey and our match at Wrestlemania - sure, it can be done. Women don't need a man in their match to steal the show. They just need an equal platform and opportunity, and if the women have it, they will work just as hard, if not harder, than anybody else to steal that show.
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