I did not beat Usain Bolt and Christian, my work simply differed in design. They are some of the most talented and beautiful performers of all time. I'm flattered to be among them, i accept this award on behalf of all of us athletes who love what we do.

Ashton Eaton

Categorized in : Sports

I won't back down. I get a satisfaction from being tested and defeating the test.

Ashton Eaton

tested tests satisfaction

If you have done something once, you can do it again or you can do it better. The beauty is the pursuit of the limit, not the limit itself. At least that's what I hope people realize.

Ashton Eaton

limits done people

The desire definitely comes from within. There are only a few people who make it to this level and those are the ones who have that innate desire.

Ashton Eaton

levels desire people

To do the best that I possibly could in my world makes me pretty happy.

Ashton Eaton

do-the-best world

Competition is pretty much the essence of everything, it gives humans drive.

Ashton Eaton

competition essence giving

Last year I was the favorite going into the world champs in Beijing, but I felt like I had to do something phenomenal in order to win. Instead of just having fun and competing, it became "I want to win so bad." But the person who wants it the most doesn't win. It's the person who executes. I still look back on that 200-meter race and say what the hell happened? I wasn't hurt, I wasn't sick, the conditions were perfect, and I ran like total crap.

Ashton Eaton

hurt winning fun

I feel it's right for me to wear a Canadian flag baseball hat. Regardless of the fact that my wife is Canadian and I would support her throughout, the spirit of the Olympic Games is to have all these countries together to push each other.

Ashton Eaton

wife baseball country

It's important not to make the gold medal bigger than it is.

Ashton Eaton

bigger important gold

I wouldn't say there was a moment of realization when I wanted to be a runner; it was always just something I was.

Ashton Eaton

runners moments realization

There's never going to be a decathlon that you're going to have 10 events that your satisfied with. You're always, always going to be dissatisfied in something, and that always draws you back to try to retry that the next time you do a decathlon. It's like you go for the perfect 10.

Ashton Eaton

events perfect trying

I knew I could compete with most people in high school. It didn't quite give me an attitude, but it made me think I didn't have to try hard sometimes.

Ashton Eaton

attitude school thinking

I always liked running as a kid. You know how eating chocolate or ice cream makes you feel good? That's the same way that running and competing makes me feel.

Ashton Eaton

ice-cream running kids

I want to see where I measure up against everyone in the world and everyone who has ever competed in the sport, and there's that innate sense of wanting to challenge myself. I'm competitive in all aspects.

Ashton Eaton

challenges sports world

I'm not maximized yet.

Ashton Eaton

I think a challenge for myself is to see how many times I can get above 9,000. That would be a good challenge.

Ashton Eaton

would-be challenges thinking

The thing I like about decathlon is also the thing I dislike: It's the maximum challenge, but also the maximum frustration.

Ashton Eaton

maximum frustration challenges

You can't really explain competing in Olympic event to someone. You can say, "Oh, that was really tough." And that literally means nothing to someone. If you can give some sort of comparison, because that's really all track and field is about any way....Usain Bolt runs a time and you get to see what everybody else's time is. It would just be interesting to compare Olympians to somebody who doesn't train their whole life.

Ashton Eaton

track running mean

When I see my mom in the stands, it always pushes me to succeed.

Ashton Eaton

my-mom succeed mom

It is no secret that she has been getting second quite a bit, and with me around, it is tough for her, and she struggles to overcome those things. Today she did it.

Ashton Eaton

sports

I hold Ashton Eaton to high standards, every time I go into a competition the general idea I have is I am going to PB( personal best).

Ashton Eaton

sports