Quotes from Emil Zatopek

I didn't know much. It wasn't possible to buy a book about Nurmi, but I found out that in order to be faster over 10,000m, he ran 5,000m many times in training. And to be better at 5,000m, he ran 1,500m many times. And to be better at 1,500m, he ran four times 400m in training.

Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast.

When I was young, I was too slow. I thought I must learn to run fast by practicing to run fast, so I ran 100 meters fast 20 times. Then I came back, slow, slow, slow.

You can't climb up to the second floor without a ladder. When you set your aim too high and don't fulfill it, then your enthusiasm turns to bitterness. Try for a goal that's reasonable, and then gradually raise it.

You must be fast enough - you must have endurance. So you run fast for speed and repeat it many times for endurance.

Men, today we die a little.

If I run 100 meters 30 times, that is 3 kilometers and no longer a sprint.

I'm not interested in how long I can hold out, but in how fast I can reach the finishing line.

To boast of a performance which I cannot beat is merely stupid vanity. And if I can beat it that means there is nothing special about it. What has passed is already finished with. What I find more interesting is what is still to come.

I will run with perfect style when they start judging races for their beauty, like figure-skating. For now, I just want to run as fast as possible.

Great is the victory, but the friendship of all is greater.

We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.

A runner must run with dreams in his heart.