I had already been into my professional career for six years and had not won an individual gold medal at the Olympics. There was a tremendous amount of pressure going into 1996 to get it done.

One of the main techniques I used was focusing on the goal and visualising myself competing in the race before the race started.

You can't control what the other athlete is going to do; you can't control anything except for your competition and how you execute the race or how you execute the task.

Difficult as it was to hear, slavery has benefited descendants like me - I believe there is a superior athletic gene in us.

I don't regret giving up football for acting. I love football and am very proud I played for Morton. But the truth is, I wasn't going to get much higher in football. At the same time, I sensed I could go somewhere in acting. I'm 28, which is young for acting, whereas in football I'd now be near the end of my career.

The biggest thing for Asian players to remember is the football style is different in Europe - as is the culture - so they have to accept that. Mentally, they need to be ready and very strong.

Of course we all dream about doing big, playing for big clubs, but I wanted to play football because of the love for the game.

Sports Illustrated' decided to have curvy women not only in their magazine but on the cover of their magazine. Now, that means size diversity is here, and it's real, and it's not a trend.