John Cooper Clarke
English poet
Peter Hitchens: he ploughs the lonely furrow.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 July 2013 source ↗
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
What is the part of your job that people would be surprised is most of your job?
Craft & work
Question
What is the thing you are best at that nobody watching can see?
Craft & work
Question
What are you unwilling to optimise?
Values & belief
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Jason Queally, a former teammate. He is older than me and was Olympic champion in Sydney. The way he mentored me, even though he knew I would be a rival, was amazing.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 February 2018 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 401 →The many nuns and priests who often work in the shadows, dedicating their lives to the service of others.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 November 2024 source ↗
Prue Leith
South African-British chef, broadcaster, and writer
Desmond Tutu. If there is a God, He must find his Cape Town archbishop a big relief from the humourlessness of pontificating prelates.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 May 2012 source ↗
Ken Loach
English retired filmmaker
Tony Benn, for moving to the left throughout his life rather than to the right.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 June 2012 source ↗
More from Chris Hoy
View profile →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.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 February 2018 source ↗
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?
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 February 2018 source ↗
Those lactate sessions were the worst. I'd be in a lab on a turbo trainer and I'd do four 30-second efforts at 100% effort. It sounds so innocuous but the difference between 99% and 100% is huge. You can finish at 99% and you'll be hurting but if you push a tiny bit more – and that's the bit that makes the difference to your training – your legs just grind to a halt. It's like your engine is seizing up. My coach would unclip my feet and pull my leg over the saddle so I could just slide off onto a mat and curl up in a ball.
Recorded Cyclist, 27 July 2016 source ↗
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.
Recorded Cyclingnews, 1 January 2008 source ↗
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.
Recorded The Independent, 27 January 2010 source ↗
Scotland’s rugby captain. My hero Gavin Hastings was captain when he came to our school for a training session when I was 10 or 11. I met him and was blown away.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 February 2018 source ↗
More on values & belief
- What is the trait you most deplore in others? 196 answers
- What is something everyone in your world agrees about that you think is wrong? 74 answers
- What are you unwilling to optimise? 27 answers
- What have you come to understand about what it means to be human? 13 answers
- What is the most overrated virtue? 10 answers
- What do you need to believe in order to get through the day? 8 answers
Also answered this · A–Z
Abi Morgan, Adam Clayton, Adeel Akhtar, Adwoa Aboah, Alfre Woodard, Alice Eve
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All values & belief questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject