The Olympic Spirit is neither the property of one race nor of one age.
Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.
The U.S. Olympic spirit award is an award that is given to an athlete who embodies the Olympic spirit in more ways than just on the playing field, in showing incredible perseverance, in overcoming obstacles, and what we wanted to do is have everybody can vote on-line.
It is the inspiration of the Olympic Games that drives people not only to compete but to improve, and to bring lasting spiritual and moral benefits to the athlete and inspiration to those lucky enough to witness the athletic dedication.
The first thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else. It has to be yours.
The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.
For athletes, the Olympics are the ultimate test of their worth.
The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.
The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.
The Olympic Games were created for the exhaltation of the individual athlete.
The Olympics remain the most compelling search for excellence that exists in sport, and maybe in life itself.
The Olympics are a wonderful metaphor for world cooperation, the kind of international competition that's wholesome and healthy, an interplay between countries that represents the best in all of us.
A lifetime of training for just ten seconds.
Holding an Olympic Games means evoking history.
There is something in the Olympics, indefinable, springing from the soul, that must be preserved.
If you don't try to win you might as well hold the Olympics in somebody's back yard.
I don't believe in the so-called Olympic spirit. I speak from personal experience. When China hosted the Games, it failed to include the people. The event was constructed without regard for their joy.
To me the Olympic spirit embodies the magic of competition, hard work and coming to a point in your career when you're around the best athletes in the world, and having the whole world watching.
It's important to know that at the end of the day it's not the medals you remember. What you remember is the process -- what you learn about yourself by challenging yourself, the experiences you share with other people, the honesty the training demands -- those are things nobody can take away from you whether you finish twelfth or you're an Olympic Champion.
As an athlete, I hope we can remain focused on the Olympic spirit which celebrates achievement in sport by peoples of all nations.
or simply:
