"The magazine said I was overweight, drinking beer and eating too much chicken and cheese. Also, that I was getting old and was not serious about my training. Let them ask me or my coach now if I was overweight - I have won a medal for India."

Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari after she became the first ever Indian woman to win an Olympic medal.

"She made it very clear if I carry on in a boat that we won't have a marriage. So a choice has got to be made. I'll have to give it some thought." Steve Redgrave on his wife Ann's warning after he won his fifth gold medal - and didn't immediately rule out competing in Athens.

"That's it for me. It's over. This was my defining moment. I don't even think I'll go out in a boat any more. It's time to find something else to do." Later, Steve Redgrave opts to save his marriage.

"Her flexibility came from God. The first time I laid eyes on her I said: `Goodbye mama, your daughter now stays with me'." Russian coach Irina Viner on 17-year- old gymnast Alina Kabaeva.

"I'm just a simple thing, a simple human being who gets annoyed when there's no toilet paper on that toilet roll in the bathroom, I'm just out here doing what I love doing, that's all." Cathy Freeman tries to convince Australians that she's a regular human being. They were having none of it.

"If I don't win all five, I'll have to cope with that, but I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't try."

Marion Jones.