When you put the interest of a kid on money instead of heart then you're destroying the beauty of our lives and our thought process which should be about how much responsibilities you carry as an athlete and a citizen.
I think exercise tests us in so many ways our skills our hearts our ability to bounce back after setbacks. This is the inner beauty of sports and competition and it can serve us all well as adult athletes.
You'd like more people to recognise what you do is special. But I take the attitude that the best thing I can do for my sport is to be the best at it. The best way people will come to recognise that track and field is a great sport is to see athletes excelling at it. Which is what I intend to do.
I do like athletes as they have amazing self-discipline.
The Madden NFL franchise holds a special place in popular culture and the cover is a coveted position for players all over the league. I'm honored to be the first cover athlete chosen by Madden NFL fans and it's a great way to cap off an amazing year for the Saints and the city of New Orleans.
I tell you it was kind of two-fold. I fortunately had a lot of support. My coach was amazing - he told me to focus on being prepared and that is what I did. Every athlete is nervous - any athlete who tells you they're not nervous isn't telling you the truth. I was as prepared as I could be.
The things that people do now in sports you can't even believe. These are complete total athletes. To see what human beings can do in the highest level is amazing.
The athlete of today is not an athlete alone. He's the center of a team - doctors scientists coaches agents and so on.
I'd like to look like Madonna when I'm her age. I also look at athletes and love their bodies. I've always wanted to be muscly not skinny. A lot of women yo-yo around but I'm always aware if I'm getting a bit out of shape. I never look at the scales but I can just tell. It goes on my tum and bum.
Recently I was in Bernalda my dad's ancestral home town in Italy. He has just refurbished a palazzo and turned it into a hotel so we had my sister's wedding there. It was beautiful.