My last real race was at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000.

Between 1991 and 1997 I had really serious asthma.

I’m so lucky. I have such a great support system. All I have to do is run.

I feel like I’ve reached an age where I can relax a little bit with the knowledge of what I’ve been through, take all that experience and use it. I love the challenge of trying to get back to where I’ve been, and beyond it.

The thing I do best is laugh.

Money makes life easier but I don’t want to be rich, not at all.

I make no apologies.

With Alexander’s cancer, I was definitely brought to my knees for the first time because of the fear factor.

Australians are a fantastic bunch of people but the attention can be overwhelming for someone like me.

People could see in me who I am now, an Olympic champ, the best in the world.

I lie around the floor with my cats Billy and Jazz or watch DVDs with my best friends.

I want to keep my private life private.

I was running since I was 10. Since grade one at school people looked at me and thought, oh gosh she can really run, she’s a natural.

I made my first Australian senior team when I was 16, first Olympics when I was 19, and I retired. I’m 32, I retired four years ago, so a good third of my life or nearly a third of my life has been all about running.

My last real race was at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000.

I don’t like people looking at me; I hate the attention.

I definitely do things on my terms, it may not seem that way but I actually do.

I have time to breathe, time to be myself more often, I am a lot more relaxed and less guarded.

I was going to shave it. It went in two parts. I got a bob first but it kept falling all over my face. Then it was off, short. The main reason it was long was because my mother cut it short when I was little and I was trying to make up for that.

I was always surrounded by expectation from the very first race I ran as a 5-year-old.

I have a friend who, if she has a bad hair day, it affects her whole mood because it is part of her sexuality, her confidence. I don’t have that problem any more.

I don’t have a lot of regrets in my life.

You got to try and reach for the stars or try and achieve the unreachable.

When I’m in a bad mood, I don’t listen.

I don’t agree with everything Madonna’s done but she is fearless.

I think the greatest amount of pressure is the pressure I place on myself. So in a way I chose to be alone.

I like being in the workforce; it keeps me grounded.

Peace, unity and harmony!

I like looking feminine and I enjoy being a role model. I enjoy being a woman. It all comes down to having the confidence to be who you are.

This occasion is personally very meaningful and I hope to visit Korea again if I have the chance.

I’m not a marriage expert, quite clearly.