The torch relay is an excellent embodiment of all that the Olympic Games have come to symbolise - a celebration of the human spirit. Personally to me, it represents striving to be the best in whatever we do, never giving up despite the odds, and a commitment to health and fitness.
In the name of all competitors I promise that we will take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by all the rules which govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams.
Everybody knows my life. I won a lot of tournaments and scored more than 1,000 goals, won three World Cups but I could not play in Olympic Games.
I run to be known as the greatest runner, the greatest of all time. I could not eat or sleep for a week after I lost in the (1992) Olympics. I have to win or die.
There is something in the Olympics, indefinable, springing from the soul, that must be preserved.
I love the Olympic Games. The Olympics are an event that few can fathom but all can enjoy, and that's why athletes work our whole lives to put on the greatest show on Earth.
If you don't try to win you might as well hold the Olympics in somebody's back yard.
When anyone tells me I can't do anything, I'm just not listening anymore.
I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.
All I've done is run fast. I don't see why people should make much fuss about that.
The female body is a masterpiece. Everyone likes to look at the female body, especially in dynamic, athletic sport.
When you're at an Olympic Games watching someone you've known for a long while and he or she has done something, even if it's only coming in the top 50, then you have a monumental night.
Our world today is in need of peace, tolerance and brotherhood. The values of the Olympic Games can deliver these to us. May the Games be held in peace, in the true spirit of the Olympic Truce. Athletes of the 80 national Olympic committees, show us that sport unites by overcoming national, political, religious and language barriers. You can show us a world we all long for.
Many track and field people know that if I stay relaxed and run my race like I'm supposed to, I will be the winner at the Olympic Games.
Strangely, in slow motion replay, the ball seemed to hang in the air for even longer.
This year I spent two months in Australia, and I did all the training camps in London. It was a really hard winter because I want to give the best performance of my career at the Olympic Games! That is the only title I'm missing and I will do my best to take it!
I get more gratification out of getting some obese person who had a heart attack running around and enjoying life within a year. I get more gratification from that than putting a person in the Olympic Games. The Olympic athlete probably doesn't appreciate what you've done, but the other guy does. I think it's really rewarding.
Watch the time - it gives you an indication of how fast they are running.
I got beat real hard and heavy in the Olympic Games in 1968 by a guy who swam an incredible race one time in his whole life, but he did it right at the right time. I'd like to be that guy now. Maybe that's what I'm going to have to pull out of my hat to make the Olympic team.
Just as at the Olympic games it is not the handsomest or strongest men who are crowned with victory but the successful competitors, so in life it is those who act rightly who carry off all the prizes and rewards.
Searching for funds to continue my skating career when I was 17, I called the Women's Sports Foundation in New York. The intern who answered the phone suggested that I might be a great candidate for the Travel and Training fund, and she sent me an application form. I applied for a grant. With the funds I was awarded, I bought a new pair of skates and a plane ticket to the 1988 National Championships, where I achieved my highest national finish. Four years later, I won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games.
Just under 10 seconds for Nigel Mansell. Call it 9.5 seconds in round numbers.
If your Olympic Hero were to use the Worm in the 1996 Olympic Games, it would be so embarassing to all the other atheletes - and our country, mind you- that the USA would have finished behind Guam.
The Port Elizabeth ground is more of a circle than an oval. It's long and square.
I'll fight Lloyd Honeyghan for nothing if the price is right.
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