“It’s hard enough to get viewers to tune to track and field, much less to watch the women unless there’s an adorable, likable American star who happens to be on the verge of rewriting record books.

Those are big shoes to fill. So big, in fact, that I sometimes sympathize with the athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs… The bar is set so incredibly high because not only do they feel the pressure to win, but they also feel the pressure to sell the sport… You have seconds to impress the world. And that chance comes for a few weeks every four years.”