It's perseverance that's the key. It's persevering for long enough to achieve your potential.
As a youngster, I enjoyed sport and my ambition was to be a great sportsman.
I am delighted that Jason Gardener will be taking over from me as President of U.K. Athletics. With his competitive background in the sport as an Olympic champion coupled with his engaging personality and his experience as a board member of U.K. Athletics, he possesses all the qualities required to be a successful president.
If you have a coach helping you, developing your skills alongside you, that's when you're on your way to becoming not just a participant but achieving.
I played rugby in the winter, cricket in the summer, and for a brief period was on the books at Cardiff City. Athletics was only sports day for me. In fact, I never really liked it. I was never too keen on a sport that didn't have a ball at your feet.
I remember one of my first international trips to Poland. After a long, tortuous journey, we arrived at the hotel exhausted but without the team management, who had gone ahead of us from the airport in cars, checked into the best rooms, and left us with what was left.
When you win, suddenly this celebrity status is hoisted upon you.
You've got to be actively involved in the process yourself and you've got to listen carefully to what the coach is saying, take that on board yourself and implement what the coach is saying.
The important thing for the future is that our schools and clubs have more and better coaches and teachers to ensure that all that enthusiasm, spirit and talent is harnessed and developed.
I believe the friendship of the Games still exists. There is a tremendous camaraderie and atmosphere at the Olympic and Commonwealth Games - where else could you go and sit down and have breakfast with a Russian weightlifter, an East German sprinter, and an Indian fencer and talk about different cultures and problems?