The Prince and Princess of Wales for not knowing when to leave their home.

A little girl called Pat. We were nine-year-olds together and all the class made her life a misery. I knew she wanted to be my friend and I would only be friends with her if nobody else was around. I feel dreadful about that.

My first wife, because I left her.

A teacher at my secondary school. We used to write and sing songs about him. Sorry, Sir! You were a great teacher.

A road track car, a Porsche GT3. I’ve done the 24-hour race in Le Mans, which was a dream come true.

Delivering papers in the freezing cold for my granny. I got paid in Panini football stickers, so it wasn’t all bad.

The six Olympic gold medals, because at school I was never great at sport. When I look back on my career I think, how on Earth did that happen?

I just like to get to the start line knowing there was nothing else I could have done, that there wasn't a single session I didn't give 100 per cent. The physical certainty means you can relax mentally and let the performance come.

The London terror attack on 7/7 in 2005. I was in London the day before for the Olympic bid. When we won I thought, “I should stay over – it will be a great party tonight.” But I decided to go back to Manchester for training. Bombs went off on what would have been my route to the station.

I don't enjoy it but I know that I have got to live with [myself] if I'm not going to give it 100 per cent. The key thing is getting to the start line and knowing that I couldn't have done any more, that I didn't back off. You accept the pain, because if you didn't there would always be that element of doubt.