At university level, I had an economics lecturer who used to joke that I was the only student who handed in essays on British Airways notepaper.
Charlie Parker was a genius, as was Lester Young.
We have to recognise there are very few countries you will take the Games to where somebody doesn't have issues on foreign or domestic policy.
Getting the Games for London has been the fulfilment of a dream. It is one which I truly believe can change the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people for the better. But in the end, nothing can quite compare with winning your first Olympic gold medal.
I wouldn't have raced a horse. But you'll then throw back at me that Jesse Owens raced against a horse, and he's one of my heroes, so I'm not going to say it was a silly stunt. I know too much about horses. They're highly unreliable, and they've got brains the size of golf balls.
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.
To anyone who has started out on a long campaign believing that the gold medal was destined for him, the feeling when, all of a sudden, the medal has gone somewhere else is quite indescribable.
I do genuinely believe that young people who play sport at a competitive level, sensibly controlled, sensibly organised, that has to be a good thing. It will teach them to win, it will teach them to lose with dignity and magnanimity - all the things you want. It's a pretty good metaphor for life.
It is really important that we promote competitive support in schools. It is very important that we recognise that has to be underpinned by good quality physical education and by getting people into patterns of exercise.
Everybody recognises that giving young people competitive outlet through sport is a very good thing.
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.
All pressure is self-inflicted. It's what you make of it or how you let it rub off on you.
I will go to my grave believing that participation is best driven by the well-stocked shop window.
Quite simply the Games are the biggest opportunity sport in this country has ever had. It is one that we must not squander.
You hope all good athletes run on the balls of their feet. You don't want them coming down heel first. The perfect style is the foot to come down with a slight supination and on a tilt to the outside.
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 joined the local athletics club when I was 12, that's what I did. I did it of my own volition.
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.
World records are only borrowed.
I'm not sure there are enough coaches in the system that can take young talent and consistently get them into the top five in the world.
