I Don't Feel I'm Qualified To Be

'm So Fortunate To Have Done What I Love To Do For So Long, But The Day I Retired Was One Of The Best Days Of My Life. Not Because I Was Happy To Get Away From The Sport, But Because It Was Clear In My Mind That I Had Done All I Possibly Could, And That It Was Time To Go.

I've Always Known That Sporting People Frequently Suffer From Joint Problems Because Of The Repeated Strain They Put On Their Bodies To Get To The Top. But Somehow I Never Thought It Would Happen To Me.

Most People Want To Become Movie Stars And I Just Want To Be In The Business. I Already Was A Star. If I Get The Part Of A Lifetime And It Blows Up, Then That's Wonderful. But If The Acting Doesn't Work, Fine. I'll Just Be A Producer. And If The Producing Doesn't Work, Fine. I've Got A Lot Of Other Stuff.

When I Decided To Go For Four Gold Medals I Planned It Out Over A Few Years. It Was In Four Different Events And There Was A Lot To It.

To This Day, Most People Think Of Me As The Fastest Human. They Don't Really Think Me As A Long Jumper, Although That's The Event I Had More Success In.