Quotes by Daley Thompson

About Daley Thompson:

Francis Morgan Ayodélé "Daley" Thompson is an English former decathlete. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four times.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

We live in the best place on earth but at times the worst.

Daley Thompson

In my heart of hearts my motivation would always have been to be the best, and I think that athletics is probably what I was built for.

Daley Thompson

What used to drive me was the fact that I wanted to be better than everybody at something. One of my best qualities is that I used whatever other people found to be an adverse thing to be a positive thing for myself.

Daley Thompson

I did not want to be the best black man of the year; I wanted to be the best man of the year.

Daley Thompson

I have the mentality of a winner. I first went to the Olympic Games when I was 17, three weeks after my O-levels, and I remember sitting in a dining-hall filled with the world's best athletes.

Daley Thompson

There's no day when I don't think it would be great to be 25 years old and have the Olympics coming in less than 300 days - and be the best in the world. I can't think of anything so motivating.

Daley Thompson

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 wan...

Daley Thompson

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.

Daley Thompson

I tend to eat vegetables only when I'm with the kids and the rest of the time, I'm a bit slack. But, I am weight-conscious, so I concentrate on avoiding junk food.

Daley Thompson

Kids are starting at such a low base rate in terms of fitness that it's taking them years to catch up to where people like me started from. Every little bit is making it more difficult for kids to succeed on a world stage.

Daley Thompson

Kids have been let down by adults - we've tried to give them too much, we've tried not to impose discipline. We've tried to make their lives easier and, in doing so, we've taken something away from them. Kids like boundaries, they also like to be pus...

Daley Thompson

I've still got a small fitness and conditioning business where I travel round the world doing stuff for individuals and corporations, mainly fitness training.

Daley Thompson

Even if you've been involved in a World Cup, the Olympics is huge. Only the Games has the power to change communities.

Daley Thompson

Sport and health are so important to our nation that they deserve to be right at the front of people's minds.

Daley Thompson

I am an education ambassador, mainly working with schools.

Daley Thompson

Los Angeles was great fun because it was the polar opposite of Moscow in 1980. It was sunny and bright, lots of colours around, whereas Moscow was dark and oppressive.

Daley Thompson

Sport fosters many things that are good; teamwork and leadership.

Daley Thompson

I think one of the things about being a good coach is to recognise when you have given all that you can. In fact there should be some sort of unspoken law that says that a coach cannot have anyone for three or four years - if you have not passed on m...

Daley Thompson

It's good to be difficult to know. Too many people are too easy to know.

Daley Thompson

I'm obsessive. I want to know the answer to how good I am. Most people aren't.

Daley Thompson

Author Bio

  • NameDaley Thompson
  • DescriptionBritish decathlete
  • BornJuly 30, 1958
  • CountryUnited Kingdom
  • ProfessionSportsperson