Quotes About Athletics

Mum and dad would drive me to the ACT Academy of Sport gym at 5 A.M., sit in the car and read a book, and then drive me to school. I appreciated it when I was younger, but I didn't really understand how much they were putting into it. Now I look at budgets of $70,000 to compete, and I think, 'Wow, they've put so much into this.'

I looked around and saw my competitors: they're all doing these quads, and at the same time, they're a head shorter than me, they're 10 years younger than me, and they're the size of one of my legs.

Franz Klammer was my great idol in my younger years.

There are younger, stronger swimmers coming up and they are hungry. I can't influence what they do, I only know what I can do and I know how greedy I am to defend my title.

When I was training, I trained with my younger brother Brady. I would wrestle some of my friends, who I had grown up with, which showed me some moves, but it was never a full on match. When I went to competitions, there were other girls, so I always wrestled girls.

You always dream of being a famous athlete. But you never think about the impact you can leave on the younger generation, having a foundation and giving back and things like that.

I grew up on the tennis court with lots of other kids. There were like 40 kids all afternoon and I was one of the youngest ones, so I always had to chase everybody to keep up.

I was the youngest of seven kids and I would not have been able to go to college without an athletic scholarship.

Being 19 years old and making the Olympic team on my last lift. I went 6-for-6 and had a perfect Olympic trial. Making the team and being one of the youngest to ever go to the Olympics was pretty special.

As a youngster, my whole life was basketball.

As a youngster, I played in Little League, Pony League, and all sorts of amateur baseball programs growing up.

It's such a beautiful sport, with no politics involved, no color, no class. Only as a youngster can you play and as a pro can you win. The game has kept me young, involved and excited and for me to be up here with gems of baseball.

As a youngster, I enjoyed sport and my ambition was to be a great sportsman.

My older brother, he did everything. He played baseball, he played basketball. Just being able to watch him as a youngster, wanting to be like him, wanting to play on the team with him and watching those older guys in my neighborhood play sports.

It's important that athletes can compete on a level playing field. And youngsters coming into the sport can know that if they are working hard and training hard, they'll see a true reflection of where they stand and what they can achieve worldwide and not be swayed by people who are cheating.

I believe now that I've cemented my spot as the best swimmer in the world, and I can't describe how proud that makes me. I just want to keep working hard and hopefully just inspire more youngsters to keep swimming and encourage South Africans to become a winning nation.

I think badminton has a real legacy with more youngsters taking up the sport. Badminton has done really well in that regard compared to other sports.

And then you have the responsibility and the duty of being good examples to youngsters, not smoke, training hard, go to bed early, don't drink alcohol, don't take drugs, it's very important to have a policy for educating against doping.

I believe that football can inspire youngsters to find the path of success in life.

I want to tell all the youngsters in Nagpur and in the rest of India that sports is not merely about winning medals; it is about being fit and healthy. It is not about six-packs and going to gym, but exercising right and eating intelligently.

When I talk to youngsters today, especially those involved in athletics, I tell them to get their education first.

Me and Cass both hooped when we were youngsters. When I met him, he was not nearly as big as he is now. As a matter of fact, I think I was about the same size.

These youngsters coming into the sport are bright lads. They see how much money there is now and they realise you've got to be fitter and stronger than the others.

Where the marathon starts is after 30 kilometers. That's where you feel pain everywhere in your body. The muscles are really aching, and only the most prepared and well-organized athlete is going to do well after that.