We’ve collected the best Athlete Quotes from the greatest minds of the world: Adam Rippon, Bernard Hopkins, Ethan Carter III, Johnny Weir, Vera Wang. Use them as an inspiration.
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I feel like at the Olympics I gave the best performance of my life and I wasn’t rewarded for that as an athlete. Yes, my fans and my mom were happy about it, but I didn’t win that gold medal.
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Quality training is what I do now; before it was a combination of both quality and quantity. Now I’m not trying to be a world-class athlete, I don’t need to train at that level. It’s about being fit, fit for life.
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When I was playing I never wished I was doing anything else. I think being a professional athlete is the finest thing a man can do.
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I’m continuing to prepare very well because I have my responsibility and my (pride) as a man and an athlete.
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Ever since I was a little boy, I had my eyes set on being able to say I was a professional athlete. I worked hard every day to make sure that it became a possibility and sacrificed a lot for the game of football.
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A college athlete is going to be competitive. You don’t get to that level if you’re not.
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I’ve been a sports fan all my life, and like most other actors, I’m convinced I could have been a pro athlete if Hollywood hadn’t come calling.
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I think it’s ironic that I fell in love with a man I thought I would never be interested in because he’s an athlete. I was always, ‘An athlete? Heck no.’
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Ronaldo is just an athlete. He works so hard and back to back; he is always there. But if you work hard, can you be like Messi? No, that’s impossible. Can you be like Ronaldo? Yes, to a certain extent.
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I have done ‘Sports Illustrated,’ but I don’t regret it because it portrayed me in a positive way – as an athlete.
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Mark Hunt is a formidable opponent, but his style gives Brock Lesnar the best chance to win. Mark Hunt may not be the best-skilled athlete, but when he gets in the ring, you’re going to get everything he’s got.
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The only way to really change perceptions, to break down barriers, break down homophobia, is through representation. That’s definitely not something I had as a kid. I never saw a gay athlete kissing their boyfriend at the Olympics. I think if I had, it would’ve made it easier for me.
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I’d love to have a lasting impact as far as growing the game. It would be cool to be remembered as a major champion. I’d like to be remembered as a great golfer but also a great person, as far as growing the game and charity work. The whole well-rounded athlete.
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As a former college athlete, I know the importance of sports in the lives of women and girls, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to join forces with NWSL and U.S. Soccer to ensure professional women athletes are elevated as the entire country can watch and be inspired by their strength and athleticism.
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I always wanted to be a professional athlete. I love my life.
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My mindset as an athlete and as a man is to accept what God is asking me to do and to live my life expressing God’s word.
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I’m not just a model who plays volleyball, or a volleyball player who supports herself modeling. I’m a female athlete personality.
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As a professional athlete, I believe that I need to explore my opportunities to the maximum, in order to excel and continue to play the best football I can.
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I was an athlete. And I proved I didn’t win just because I was pretty. I was good, too.
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My son, he understands being an athlete and being a student-athlete and how important it is that those two things go hand in hand.
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The ESPYS are about appreciating moments in sports and not looking down on it because it’s maybe not your favorite athlete or your favorite team.
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I’ve found that there’s a lot to invigorate in any country or destination – it’s all about how you look at it. I’ve never really had any difficulties anywhere I’ve been. As an athlete, I used to enjoy being on the road and meeting people.
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If you talk about natural ability, I think Apollo‘s probably the most naturally gifted athlete of the new era.
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At the end of the day, if you’re a professional athlete in track and field you are the CEO of your company.
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All my life I believed I became an athlete through my own determination, but it’s impossible to think that being descended from slaves hasn’t left an imprint through the generations.
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It’s important as an athlete to know your body and how things affect it.
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Having your competitiveness and your desire as an athlete called into question is, for sure, frustrating.
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I went through so many things personally, emotionally and mentally during that time off that I know that I’m better for it now and I think I’m a better athlete because of that.
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Let’s start with the athlete, Nike’s original and most important collaborator. To us, everything starts with the insight. That’s why we work with the deepest roster of athletes, to gain the most profound understanding of what’s needed to perform.
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I do feel like since I am a third-generation wrestler, I do have to hold myself – and there are a lot of people that expect certain things out of me – I’m an athlete, and I’m a top athlete.
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People still think I’m a bit of a buffoon – not really an athlete.
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I have high expectations for myself – as an athlete, as a man, as an individual – and wrestling has helped me build a lot of character knowing that I have to remain humble but also fight complacency.
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Forty years ago the chances of journalists reporting – or the authorities even prosecuting – a pro athlete were practically nil.
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I’ve been a Nike athlete since day one.
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I don’t care what anybody says: a pro athlete is going to be a role model. I tried to use that as a positive influence, to let kids know we are regular people.
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I love what I do and I love being an athlete, but I also love all the things that have come with it.
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For every athlete, it is very important to be able to engage in their favorite thing, give all the best in training, performing in competitions, defending the honor of the motherland.
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The Olympic Games are always in the head of every sports athlete. We work for that. The Olympics are the most important race. They’re each four years, and everybody wants to show their best performance.
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Brock Lesnar is the most unique athlete in this history of World Wrestling Entertainment, and I say that with without embellishment or exaggeration.
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The Olympic Games are always in the head of every sports athlete. We work for that.
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I am much more of a geek than I am an athlete.
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Every professional athlete owes a debt of gratitude to the fans and management, and pays an installment every time he plays. He should never miss a payment.
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It’s 2018, and being an openly gay man and an athlete, that is part of the face of America now.
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The IOC have decided Russia will pay them £50 million, and that is their punishment for 40 years of duping the world and going against every single clean athlete on earth. The IOC has fought a spectacular fraud with more fraud.
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Every action has a consequence. It may be good for strengthening. And I have no doubt that lifting a lot of weights can get you stronger. I just don’t know if lifting stronger weights can keep you healthy, or it can keep you doing your job better, especially for a pro athlete.
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I am blessed with a reasonable athletic talent and was an athlete in school.
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I always tried to hide the fact that I was an athlete. I just wanted to be normal.
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I remember running at school sports day, and I would win everything, but I wasn’t a super athlete or a superstar at high school.
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The selfish thing about an athlete is you always look at the side of things where you say I could’ve done that better.
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I don’t think of myself as an explorer but as an athlete.
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I’ve come to expect more out of myself – as a citizen, as a man, as an athlete – to reach a better place, a place I’ve never been.
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Life is about being a versatile athlete and training in all realms of life.
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To me, when people say, ‘Oh, you’re a freak athlete,’ it’s bittersweet. It’s a huge compliment to say, ‘O.K., you have physical abilities that are kind of above and beyond.’ But at the same time, I feel like it diminishes the mental side of the game.
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I did not choose necessarily on the basis of significance. If you have a vote for the most significant athlete, then you have Ali, then you have Babe Ruth, then you have Michael Jordan.
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If you don’t eat properly, it affects your energy level. You are an athlete when you’re onstage. You can’t get tired.
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I’m a golfer – not an athlete.
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I strictly want to beat every opponent I face, whether it’s for a title or for a small show. The only thing for me is winning my fights and being the best athlete I can be.
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Some of the occurrences leading up to and immediately following the Berlin World Championships have infringed not only my rights as an athlete but also my fundamental and human rights, including my rights to dignity and privacy.
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I wanted to be a pro athlete. I knew that.
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When I was a kid, I was always an athlete. I played a lot of sports. I played football, basketball, baseball and soccer.
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I’m an athlete; my dad had made sure I played all the same sports as boys growing up, so I was always super competitive.
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I think I want to show fans what it is actually like to be an athlete. Tennis is a part of it, but there is also another job that people are not aware of, the media commitments we have, and I want them to understand this.
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You look at a Pete Rose to be the terrific athlete he is and then he falls on hard times, but when he played the game, I got something from the way he played the game because he hustled every play, and just because he had one mistake in his life, am I supposed to throw back everything that I gained from him?
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To an extreme athlete, there’s a certain appeal to doing extreme things – seeking the most extreme physical challenges in some of the most extreme climates in the world. Testing and expanding the limits of human endurance is kind of my thing.
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A master‘s is a lot more work than my first degree, but I’m an athlete who knows what she wants. I made up my mind, and I’m determined that this is what I’m going to do.
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It feels so good to be the World Athlete of the Year.
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I’m 33 years old; I’m getting old. Every year is different, and as an athlete, you’ve got to be honest with yourself.
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I’m proud of my body, I’m proud of my sport, I’m proud of being a female athlete.
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I have to hit the gym. I have beauty appointments. I have to work toward my next job and maintaining my image, just like an athlete.
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The PCB needs to be clear in its stance on players who have been involved in corruption and tarnishing the image of the country. Because playing for the national team is the highest honor for any athlete.
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I started playing in ’98, but I got hooked by playing celebrity golf tournaments. Tiger had a lot to do with it – his passion, the way that he plays. He’s unique and different, and he inspired a lot of my passion. It’s a sport you can’t master. If you’re an athlete, you can do almost anything, but golf is not like that.
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When I look back, I am happy that my mum took me to the gymnastics club. I didn’t join gymnastics to become a famous athlete or celebrity; it just happened – I did more than I expected, of course.
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I was not an athlete, but I was a break-dancer. I was a beatboxer, an entertainer.
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My favourite meal is penne carbonara – that’s good for an athlete, right?
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Over the last three years, UCLA has helped me grow as an athlete, a scholar, and a member of the community. I have made some mistakes along the way; however, I am grateful that I made those mistakes backed by such a supportive and positive university so that I could learn from them and better myself.
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I have a real passion for children. I always wanted to teach and only became an athlete because my parents told my brother Parenthesis and me that we should use any God-given talent we had.
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No other athlete in any sport has ever had to go through what I have to.
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I just see myself as an athlete and a competitor, someone who just works really hard at trying to get better at golf.
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I think every athlete has their window of opportunity, and you just have to jump on it. You never know when it can end. So I’m just trying to live large while I have the opportunity.
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There’s nothing masculine about being competitive. There’s nothing masculine about trying to be the best at everything you do, nor is there anything wrong with it. I don’t know why a female athlete has to defend her femininity just because she chooses to play sports.
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In 1981, I spoke at the Olympic Congress. I was scandalised that I was the first athlete to be given that chance. But I made the most of it.
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My favorite was always whichever sport was in season. I think these days it’s almost saddening to see kids who are 10 or 11 and are forced to choose one sport and specialize in that sport and play that sport year-round. By playing different sports… you become a better all-around athlete.
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I respect Georges St. Pierre as a businessman and an athlete. I don’t have anything against him personally. But he’s not the kind of fighter I like watching.
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I’m a huge fan of Conor McGregor, an incredible athlete. What he has done for MMA is phenomenal; he has been a great supporter of me.
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If athletes went to the races more and to the backside in the morning, I think more people would get involved because, as an athlete, we can relate to what the horses go through. Training routine, injuries, massages, etc.
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The doors fly open when you’re a professional athlete.
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Not winning a title gives fuel to sportswriters and talking heads who question an athlete’s true value.
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When you’re a pro athlete, life is very narcissistic – everything relates back to you and how you play. When you are getting out of pro sports, you suddenly have to get a little more mindful of what’s going on around you and how you affect the rest of the world.
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I used to bring my sketchbook to gym class and doodle, because I am a very uncoordinated athlete.
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I’m an athlete, so I can dress down with the best of them. I can throw on t-shirts and sweats with the best of them.
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I just do my work, try to do everything I can. I don’t weigh in all offseason. I just try to get better, be in better position, be an athlete.
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What does being an athlete mean? It means I have to be a little selfish again. I have to put my career sort of ahead of everything else – and I don’t like doing that.
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As an athlete, you only have so much time. The window only has so much time and then it closes. You have to take care of yourself the best you can.
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There’s definitely a whole double standard. I don’t understand it. A guy can be sexy and good-looking, and it totally just enhances his credibility as an athlete.
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My background is that of a competitive athlete and a fighter, and I’m bringing something totally different to ‘The Biggest Loser’ that wasn’t there before.
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Being an athlete in a cold-weather sport is really difficult to deal with the asthma.
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Durability is part of what makes a great athlete.
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I learned how to be an athlete. I learned the true art of resiliency and grit.
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Serena Williams is the greatest tennis player of all time, the greatest female athlete of all time, the greatest athlete of all time.
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I don’t have any ill will towards any of my opponents. I understand we are the highest calibre of athlete in this sport, and we will both go and give it our all. But I don’t want anyone to misinterpret what I am saying: when we step into that octagon and we touch gloves, I am going to break his face.
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I’ve always approached my career and my life, you know, one day at a time, as if this was the last day that I’m going, because you never know as an athlete and as a dancer. You never know what can happen today, tomorrow.
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I’m not a great athlete that can play any sport. But one thing I could always do is… fight back.
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It’s a completely different thing, but there’s so many things I learned from being an athlete that helped me in business. The only risk is not taking the risk. You’ve got to take that step.
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In high school and college, I was an athlete.
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Josh Brolin is fascinating to watch because he is just so effortless. It’s like watching a really gifted athlete run, and I just didn’t have that.
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I had been cut from the basketball team every year. But I was like, ‘I can turn it around! Michael Jordan made it!’ You see it a lot of times – you’ll have an athlete that you love, and then they’ll be like, ‘I also want to rap,’ and you’re like, ‘Don’t do that.’ I was that kid.
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I’ve always been a pretty good athlete.
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As a former competitive athlete and a mother to a daughter who is a D1 collegiate athlete, I staunchly oppose biological males in girls/women’s sports, locker rooms, and bathrooms.
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I try to stay very true to the kind of person that I want to be and the kind of athlete and the kind of professional I continually strive to be.
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As an athlete, there are advantages being with a team and getting regular physio.
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I’m impassioned about injury prevention as an athlete.
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Life is awesome as a college athlete, and then it’s a total cliff to jump off.
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Being the world’s greatest athlete just does not get it done on the golf course.
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When you go to college, and you talk about your college experience, there’s a lot of revisionist history that goes along with it. You tend to think of yourself as, ‘Oh, I got all of the girls. I was the best athlete on the team. I was a straight-A student.’ And that’s probably not the case.
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I don’t know whether it’s the athlete in me or the passion I have for the game: I always think that I can step back on the field and play.
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For an athlete, there’s no time off… until it’s over.
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As an athlete, you figure you work your whole life to have what you have, and to be able to show the world what you have and how proud you are of it, that’s always fun.
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I think there is no better way to invite a human being to view their body differently than by inviting them to be an athlete, by revering one’s body as an instrument rather than just an ornament.
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I can always do five, five-minute rounds, any day, even if I was drinking yesterday or doing whatever. I’m a seasoned athlete, an endurance athlete, and I’m always working out.
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It is not the time spent with the child at their activity that is going to produce the highest level athlete. It is in supporting the child in an organized activity – and Bill alluded to this – so the child can find what they truly like to do and let them go.
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Every generation comes with a unique athlete, I don’t think anybody wants to be the next Nadia; they want to be themselves.
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I’m from Minnesota and have always lived there. And my competitive career actually started in the late ’90s racing motocross, which then turned into racing snowmobiles professionally. I turned pro in 2003, racing with the best in the world and living my dream as a professional athlete.
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At one point that’s all I cared about, being a pro athlete. But I realized I wasn’t athletic enough.
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In every school, more boys wanted to be remembered as a star athlete than as a brilliant student.
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To chase an athlete that really doesn’t want to speak with you and when you finally get him, gives you three words and you have to write a story based on three words of information he gave you, that’s pretty tough.
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My hands. I’m constantly working on my hands. I’m constantly working on my ground game and constantly trying not to get satisfied with where I’m at with my career and where I’m at as an athlete. I’m somewhat happy, but never satisfied.
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All my life I believed I became an athlete through my own determination, but it’s impossible to think that being descended from slaves hasn’t left an imprint through the generations. Difficult as it was to hear, slavery has benefited descendants like me – I believe there is a superior athletic gene in us.
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I might not be a great athlete, but I think I’m a real good football player.
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It’s frustrating sometimes: as an athlete, you’re thrust into the spotlight, and you know, I think this team has always done a really amazing job of understanding that we have this incredible platform; let’s do something good with it.
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Precisely at the moment when an athletic career is most on the line and fan perceptions of a Herculean, supra-human performance are highest, an athlete’s brain may be at its most vulnerable.
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Obviously, that’s the thing any athlete wants to be able to do, to take weaknesses and turn them into strengths.
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I’m an African-American man with an Afro who isn’t your typical athlete – who wasn’t as masculine as other guys.
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Every athlete in the UFC, I think they want to fight for the title. I’m no different.
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I do Athlete Devotion throughout all my fight camps. I am a Christian, so I fight with God first, and I have my devotions with me everywhere I go.
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I would encourage people to participate in sports. You don’t have to dream of being an Olympic or a professional athlete.
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Like every other athlete, I always dreamt of playing at the Olympics, and it feels really good to see that dream materialize.
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I disagree that an athlete can’t be intelligent. Some people think that, in basketball, we have a bunch of masculine adults who don’t know how to control themselves. They’re feeble-minded and can’t engage or articulate ideas. That’s a narrative they keep trying to paint.
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The pro athlete is a sad tale. He signs a big contract and thinks he’s set for life. I didn’t think I was set for life, and I don’t now. As athletes, we are important, celebrities, in demand and rich. Then we are out of the game and we are not important, not celebrities, not in demand and not rich.
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People want athletes to cater to their image of what an athlete should be, but they also want them to fail so they can feel like their screwups are all right. If I make a priority shift, I’ll make it because it’s best for me.
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I’m a realist and I always have been. Quality training is what I do now; before it was a combination of both quality and quantity. Now I’m not trying to be a world-class athlete, I don’t need to train at that level. It’s about being fit, fit for life.
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The conditioning and the lifestyle changes you have to make to remain a healthy athlete are what molded me into what I am today.
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When you reach a certain level, you live in a bubble when all you think, dream and breathe is becoming the best athlete in the world.
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I don’t really take into account what the media says. People have their own opinions about what goes on, but they don’t see what goes on behind the scenes with an athlete and their preparation.
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In college I never realized the opportunities available to a pro athlete. I’ve been given the chance to meet all kinds of people, to travel and expand my financial capabilities, to get ideas and learn about life, to create a world apart from basketball.
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I am all athlete, and that’s important, that my looks have nothing to do with what I do in the WWE.
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I worked my whole life and dreamed my whole life of being a professional athlete.
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I don’t run like any type of athlete.
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With any kind of artistic thing, it’s a muscle, like any athlete, and the moment you’re not doing it, you lose all confidence. That’s why I’m terrible with down time.
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I am the sort of athlete who participates in a lot of winter sports – basketball, for example, is an activity that I’ll spend many hours a week watching.
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When you put the interest of a kid on money instead of heart then you’re destroying the beauty of our lives and our thought process, which should be about how much responsibilities you carry as an athlete and a citizen.
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As an athlete, you choose your sport and are drawn into it but your passion should never be driven by fame and fortune but a desire to create something special that people will always remember.
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Unlike the traditional athlete, I’ve got to do more than just engage in my sport to put food on the table. When I’m done running, it’s straight to the office.
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There might have been a thousand people who had a better athletic feat than what I did. So for me, just the fact that they gave Canadian Athlete of the Year – and also, I was voted third in the Male Athlete of the Year – the fact that some people did consider what I did an athletic feat, that really makes me feel good.
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As an athlete, you learn to keep pushing through the pain until the pain eventually becomes unbearable. Even then, you are told to continue.
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You know raising a family in the lifestyle of a professional athlete can be very difficult.
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Things have changed so much, with Facebook and Twitter. Everyone is so much more accessible these days: no British athlete has ever experienced what we are experiencing now. It’s such a unique situation with the home Olympics.
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When I was a kid, I had serious athlete’s foot and nosebleeds.
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One minute you’re a developing athlete trying to get to the top, then the next minute you do well and win a medal somewhere, and then it’s all foisted on you. You never know when it’s going to happen. You don’t think about the media side of things when you’re a young athlete trying to do well.
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I remember I wanted to be an athlete. I wanted to be in the NFL or NBA or something, and I don’t think I dreamed of being a benchwarmer. I’m sure I wanted to be the best. But I didn’t really ever think I was going to be a famous musician.
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I am an athlete for Christ. That’s why I play for Him, to give Him glory, to thank Him for giving me the ability to play football.
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I was an athlete when I was growing up.
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Every NBA player, every athlete, I think once you get to this level in life, whether you have kids or you’re about to have kids, understands that this is so much bigger than this sport.
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I was just a normal athlete. My mother tried to spark something in me. She was an athlete in high school before she got pregnant with my older brother. She was 16, and that was it for her when it came to track and her education.
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To be a top-class athlete, you have to train hard, you have to eat right, you have to get enough rest. I feel the way golf is going nowadays, you have to treat yourself as an athlete.
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I remember making the all-star team in Little League when I was around 11 years old. I was not a great athlete, but I loved it, so making starting second base in the all-star was great for me. I think someone must have been sick and they slotted me in.
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I’m a professional athlete – one who’s supposed to set examples – so whatever it is I put in my body, it’s up to me to take responsibility for it, and I have done that.
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I never in a million years thought I would be able to be a Paralympic athlete.
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I can play basketball, run track, and play volleyball, so yeah, I’ve always been an athlete at heart.
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I think it’s hilarious the way Obama is depicted post-presidency. He’s always kayaking or playing jai alai like he’s some retired athlete or something. Like he wasn’t doing the exact same thing everybody else was doing.
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Life’s short, you know? Especially as an athlete. Your career is very short, and you use the opportunities that you have because you’re not going to have them again.
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Athletics talent is more prominent in the villages than in the urban areas because the main factor determining the difference is hard work which is an integral part of an athlete’s training.
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I don’t know if I’m a good kickball player; I know I’m a good athlete.
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I have really good legs for jumping. I have terrible ankles for landing. I wasn’t as good fundamentally as John Stockton or Steve Nash, so I had to play like an athlete, in the air all the time, coming down in vulnerable positions.
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For an athlete myself, it is especially meaningful for our country to host an Olympics. Every athlete hopes to participate in an Olympics, so I still can’t believe the games of dreams is going to take place in Korea.
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If your body needs certain food, you have to give it to it. And as an athlete, if I’m doing 100 miles a week and working out, if I eat bad food one day, it’s not bad for me because I burn it off.
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The life of an athlete does have to be lonely and you have to be focused on your craft and what you do. Loneliness is just a sacrifice you make as an Olympic-level athlete.
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The first time I walked into the Olympic athlete village seeing the Visa ATM machine with my picture on it and the Chinese characters saying ‘Destiny.’ For some reason, it just boosted my confidence and it was before I had even worked out or had my first training or competed.
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As an athlete, our platform is so high. A lot of people look up to us. So if they see us doing something positive, it can change the world.
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Carl Yastrzemski was the best all-around player. He could run, throw and hit. He had the ability to play a number of different positions. He signed as a shortstop. He could play the outfield, of course, and third base and first, too. He was a tremendous athlete. Mickey Mantle was unbelievable, too.
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I want to be remembered as a great athlete. As a boxing champion.
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I wouldn’t say I’m a phenomenon, just a great athlete.
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I would say that one of the really special gifts about playing an athlete is that it’s the best motivation you’ll ever have to get in top shape and stay in top shape because you know that you’re going to be expected to deliver.
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I’m slightly influenced by sport in that I like the idea of trying, like an athlete, to keep absolutely ready. That’s an emotional thing, almost. I don’t mean physically, although I play tennis. But you try to keep yourself ready.
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The holidays are important, but the path I’ve chosen doesn’t take that into consideration. I do what I can to enjoy them, but it’s one of the sacrifices of being an athlete.
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I’m not just a footballer; I’m a top athlete, and we have to be at the top of our game.
324
I always said I wanted an Olympic medal. It’s the pinnacle of any athlete’s career.
325
Its a touchy subject, ’cause I never want to take it there, where it seems like it’s all about race. But I feel like that’s something that comes along with the territory of being a black quarterback. When you have success – ‘Oh, you’re a freak athlete.’ Not, ‘Oh, you’re a good quarterback.’
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Lets be honest: I’m an athlete, not an entertainer as much. So as an athlete, I am a guy who likes the physical confrontation of the football field. I like playing nose-guard; I like having two 350 pound guys trying to rip my head off.
329
I think the greatest all-around athlete ever was Jim Brown. He played lacrosse, basketball and ran track at Syracuse. He played professional football for the Browns.
330
I like to push characters to extremes so they have to make really tough decisions and there is no life more extreme than that of an athlete.
331
I’m an athlete. I go out there and fight my heart out.
332
I’m training at Alliance because they encourage me, and they motivate me, and they try to build on my uniqueness as a fighter, as an athlete.
333
I was a horrible athlete.
334
I had a client who was a professional baseball player once, and he would go to clubs and dance for seven, eight, nine hours at a time. He wouldn’t drink, he wouldn’t take drugs – he just danced because he had so much physical energy; he was this amazing athlete.
335
You need to have explosive power. So you need to have good agility to move your feet quick and be in the right place at the right time. So you have to be an overall athlete: you need to be in shape to be able to throw.
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Most importantly, you have to stay true to yourself as well as those fans who made you who you are as an athlete.
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Success for an athlete follows many years of hard work and dedication.
346
To be the first British athlete to win a gold is amazing, but to win it in the U.K. is something else. Also, having my family here with me has made it extra special, and I know all my friends back home have been cheering me on and putting posters in their windows. I want to thank them all.
347
I love athletics. As an athlete, I like to believe I can still do the things I used to do when I was once young.
348
When I’m in the gym, I’m in the gym, and that is my focus. But when I’m not in the gym, I’m enjoying being a mom and taking care of those responsibilities .. They really do provide me with the balance that I need to be a more complete athlete.
349
I’m a sports fan. I’m not just an athlete who plays football.
350
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I think every athlete should give back to schools. I know athletes donate and have things that they give charity to, but, at the end of the day, it’s the younger generation that we need to be helping.
352
I found the emotion that as an athlete you block out, and it really helped me to understand myself as a person. I’m a really emotional person and it helped make me a better person.
353
My parents themselves both went to university, and they very much expected me to be an intellectual and go through further education, and it’s to kind of their surprise that I became an athlete.
354
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I always wanted to be a pro athlete. When I was younger I wanted to be the first person to be a pro at three different sports, but then realized how impossible that is. At 15 I stopped playing other sports and focused on tennis.
356
357
I was always a thin kid; I was an athlete.
358
My background is as an athlete, and you know, we in the Marines, when we want something, we go after it.
359
First of all, I really never imagined myself being a professional athlete.
360
To have any doubt in your body is the biggest weakness an athlete can have. There are times when I physically can’t get myself to go for a skill because I’m thinking, ‘My knee hurts really bad.’
361
The greatest feeling of accomplishment for me is the fact that I was an athlete who was somewhat disabled.
362
As an athlete, I feel like I have a little bit of control – or a lot of control – of the situation. When you’re the in the stands, you have no control of the situation.
363
My first ‘Tonight Show‘ was just one of those things – I mean this seriously – a cosmic, meant-to-be coming together of circumstance. You walk out there to do your first ‘Tonight Show’: Is the audience going to be hot? Are you going to be on fire? It’s like an athlete: Are you going to have your moves at a peak?
364
365
One of the most important aspects of an athlete’s financial life is that he needs to be personally responsible for his own finances.
366
I am an athlete first and foremost, and it is vital for my competitiveness, my well being, and for my preparations for events during the European summer that I measure my performance against other athletes.
367
368
I will be a complete man, a complete athlete, with a fight with Roy Jones Jr.
369
It’s hard to understand the athlete’s lifestyle. You literally eat, sleep, train. You go to training camps in the winter where there is no Internet, you can’t make phone calls.
370
I think, in the U.S., we have such a focus on the physicality, on being the best athlete, that it sort of overshadows the football aspect of it.
371
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I’ve been through every surgery that any athlete has ever been through, and I’ve prevailed through it.
375
Everyone has been injured, regardless of whether they’re an athlete or not.
376
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When you speak of role models, when we talk to our kids, everybody is a role model, everyone, just as you look at a Michael Jordan to be the terrific athlete he is.
378
If you look at all the sports in China, the government is extremely involved and they are extremely proud of their athlete.
379
I wasn’t in shape at all before I decided to do boxing. I wasn’t an athlete. Before boxing, I would go to the gym for a month and stop.
380
But now – look, I have to take care of myself. I work out every day. I’m a dancer. I’ve always been an athlete, and I’m one of those people who start to go crazy if they don’t run or do something.
381
I have been a professional dancer and athlete my entire life.
382
I’m a different athlete, I’m a different person.
383
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385
I’m definitely Australian and wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve been formed as an athlete in Australia.
386
I think being an athlete prepares you for more things than people give us credit for.
387
He is very upbeat but we hear that all the time from just about any athlete.
388
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I’ve been an athlete and competitor my whole life, and there’s nothing more that I get off on than competition.
390
Obviously, you’re known for what you do. But you still want to be known as a good person. You’re a person a lot longer before and after you’re a professional athlete.
391
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393
Don’t live vicariously through your kids or try to shape them into who you wanted to be, like the popular kid or an athlete. Children should be given the opportunity to be themselves.
394
Johnny was an athlete who didn’t play sport. His first love was baseball, but he didn’t think he had it in him to be a professional.
395
Truthfully, this is how I approach my workout: I want to be the best athlete I can possibly be. If I can out-perform some of the better athletes then I’m happy. When I look at the NFL or the NBA, these guys look how I want to look – it’s useable, functional muscle.
396
We know that as a Christian athlete, people are watching, and so we want to be the best example we can be and show that we are different – that Christ has changed our lives.
397
Getting released in 2014 was the best thing that happened to me because I got to regain my focus, regain my pride, and come back as the best-conditioned athlete there is in WWE, which ultimately led me to become the single greatest WWE champion.
398
399
Being paid as a professional athlete didn’t change how hard I was working because I’m always going to do that, whether it’s the weight room or the film room.
400
401
Being in school is the best place to be if you are an athlete because you can structure your own time.
402
403
404
I’m a British citizen, and I’m incredibly proud to represent Great Britain. I’ve also represented Great Britain in the Olympics, so I’m definitely a British athlete.
405
No athlete ever ends his or her career the way you want to. We all want to play forever. But it doesn’t work that way. Accepting the end gracefully is part of being a professional athlete.
406
407
I’m obviously always interested in the dancer who’s an athlete and vice versa. I expect dancers to be in condition like an athlete is and to challenge themselves in the same way, to the same physical degree.
408
I want to compete in the next Olympics. If I go to Rio, it will be my third time, which is a rare feat for an Indian athlete. For me, Olympics is important because it’s the biggest event on earth for a sports person. I hope this time around I come back with a medal.
409
Every athlete wants to win an Olympic gold medal, and I’d be lying if I said that’s not what I wanted.
410
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.
411
My father was an athlete, a great athlete, fought in the Marines in World War I. He was all sports and activity. My mother was all academics. I still have the complete works of Shakespeare that she had.
412
Growing up, I wasn’t an athlete or anything like that. The only place I felt like I belonged was in the theater.
413
I have my Grade 1 autobiography that says I’m going to the 2012 Olympic Games, and it has a picture of me on the podium. So, I’ve known my whole life. It’s not something I just thought of. I’ve known I would be an Olympic athlete; didn’t know what sport, but I drew myself in a judo gi.
414
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I was a huge athlete as a kid. I was on every sports team.
418
419
420
Let’s be honest: I’m an athlete, not an entertainer as much.
421
Even Sachin used to get ducks during his career. There are ups and downs in every athlete’s career.
422
I’ve become more of a climber now – who still keeps that time trial as strong as ever. It gives me such self-belief. I feel a different athlete.
423
424
I used to pray that God would make me a great athlete, and He never did.
425
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427
Once you start worrying about a national football championship, then you begin to worry about getting the quality of athlete, and the numbers needed, to win a national championship. And that worry leads to pressure to compromise academic standards to admit those athletes.
428
You get older, and you want to be a professional athlete; you want to win on the biggest stage.
429
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431
Thank you to everyone that has made me the athlete I am! God, family and friends, my competitors and supporters! You have all had a hand!
432
I don’t know about politics so much. I’m a professional athlete.
433
Maybe there’s a little girl who thinks she can be an Olympic athlete, and she sees all the things I struggled through to get here. Yeah, I didn’t walk away with a medal or run away with a medal, but I think there’s lessons to be learned when you win and lessons to be learned when you lose.
434
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436
I was always an athlete; my grandfather and my dad are basketball players, and I played sports my whole life.
437
438
I’m an athlete rep, so I’ll be available if they need me for anything.
439
440
I was a very good athlete: actually professional in the sport of handball.
441
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444
People assuming that because I’m a great athlete, I can dance. But no. My rhythm is off a little bit.
445
I just wanted to be an athlete.
446
When you reach that elite level, 90 percent is mental and 10 percent is physical. You are competing against yourself. Not against the other athlete.
447
You can no longer just be a good sailor. You have to be an incredible athlete as well. Having said that, you can be a great athlete, the strongest guy in the world, but if you can’t anticipate and make decisions under stress and exhaustion and think ahead, then you won’t be able to cut it, either.
448
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450
I didn’t want to be a dancer. I just did it to work my way through college. But I was always an athlete and gymnast, so it came naturally.
451
I am used to training 10 to 12 sessions a week, so I have the physical and mental endurance that comes with being an athlete.
452
453
Injuries are psychologically so hard for an athlete because you don’t get to do what you love to do.
454
Being an athlete, you know how to train and prepare your body for a performance and you’re able to do it under pressure.
455
456
If you can miss getting up in the morning and running into a wall, I miss playing football. I’ll never be a frustrated athlete.
457
458
I don’t think I’d be the wrestler or the athlete that I am today if I didn’t have some of the intergender matches that I have.
459
Dai Greene will be our greatest-ever Welsh athlete.
460
461
462
Kid Rock is a hell of an athlete.
463
The moment an athlete doesn’t train, things start to get a bit rusty.
464
I’ve been an athlete my whole life. I’ve played every sport, including soccer, baseball, softball, basketball.
465
466
I think no athlete wants to end his career on an injury.
467
Acting is sort of an extension of childhood. You get to play all of these roles and have so much fun. Playing an athlete would be so cool. Or where you get to shoot guns, ride horses. I wouldn’t turn down any of that.
468
I try to take the approach that everyone really is an athlete at some level. I mean, we were all on the playground in the beginning. Some of us just stayed there.
469
An athlete’s diet is a complicated thing.
470
Both parents supported my becoming a world class athlete.
471
I think an athlete should be honest. I know it’s difficult, but if a guy knocked me on my can, I couldn’t very well say, I slipped.
472
A good athlete always mentally replays a competition over and over, even in victory, to see what might be done to improve the performance the next time.
473
When I go through the airport and see white women walking through the airport barefooted, like athlete’s feet don’t exist, there’s something wrong.
474
475
You can play professional lacrosse, but they make less than a teacher’s salary now. I always thought about that. And it’s a very difficult career, a short career, as a pro athlete.
476
477
Homophobia in male sports is much stronger than in women’s sports; the locker room environment is a lot different. It’s going to be much more of a brave step, an earthshaking move, for a gay male athlete to come out.
478
As an athlete, it’s very important to have an open mind and to be willing to learn.
479
480
Given this platform of being an Olympic athlete, I think it’s really important that we stand up for what we believe in, and we speak out against things that we think are wrong and injust.
481
I am a well-spoken, educated person, and I’m also an extremely accomplished athlete. For me, it’s disrespect and a slap in the face when people say I broke a mold as champion or I don’t fit as champion.
482
483
The concentration of the elite athlete is akin perhaps to the concentration of the writer.
484
My plant-based diet has opened up more doors to being an athlete. It’s a whole other level that I’m elevating to.
485
486
I have to play baseball to make me happy. I have to be an athlete. But when it’s all said and done, I’ll be a normal father. A normal-type house man.
487
I’m an athlete. I’m not a big golf nerd in that aspect. I’m not big on the history.
488
The most important part of this is to prepare the athlete for life in general and then be able to compete.
489
Desire is the most important factor in the success of any athlete.
490
The Olympics is about showing what you’ve done with your life, your dream as an athlete and sharing that with the world.
491
I used to go to some Harvard parties with my athlete friends, and they would introduce me as ‘Winona, the Indian activist.’ It made me uncomfortable. I felt like a novelty.
492
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494
You see a hockey player, you’d never know he’s a professional athlete. But you put the skates on him, and he becomes a beast.
495
Just having what’s important, to have people around you to support and take care of you. That’s the most important thing when you are a professional athlete.
496
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498
My father’s NFL dreams never really felt like motivation to me, but it was something to aspire to. He was such a great athlete, the least I could do is try and use my athletic talent to represent my country in a different way. He represented as a Marine. Maybe I could do something to represent as an athlete.
499
I like to think of myself as a pretty good athlete, I don’t think I’m a great sprinter, but 200, 400, maybe 800. I won’t say excel in them, but I’d do pretty good.
500
I grew up an athlete, growing up in Pittsburgh. I played basketball. I played football. I played a little bit of baseball in my earlier years.
501
I want to know about what makes an athlete tick.
502
I am always available to share my experiences. I am happy to talk to people in Indian sports administration, maybe teach them a few things, and eventually help out an athlete. That would make me happiest.
503
Motherhood has changed me as a person. I’m much happier and very content with life. That can only transfer positively to the track. It will make me a better athlete.
504
As an athlete, I was never really comfortable with being a celebrity.
505
I guess I compete in everything I do, but it’s always good to get out and be active and find an outlet for all of that pent-up aggression you had as an athlete.
506
You know Rockhold is a very good athlete and great fighter. He is a champion in Strikeforce, in UFC.
507
I’m an athlete, so I’m very interested in making the sport as safe as possible – just for my own career longevity.
508
509
510
You don’t have to try to hurt people and be angry to be an athlete.
511
Everyone needs to move – if you’re a pro athlete, a contortionist, a computer programmer, or just somebody who wants to play with their kids.
512
My brother David was a great athlete and I knew there was no way I could live up to that.
513
I’m not your cookie-cutter athlete, and that scares people. People don’t know how to take that.
514
I would like to fight as hard as I possibly can in each and every game and win or lose, leave it at that, and move forward. I know in my heart that that is the mindset I need to be a successful and happy athlete.
515
516
When I was on the chubbier side, I thought that whatever God and whatever my body told me to be at that time, that’s what it was. I’d say I grew more of an understanding about my body probably around my senior year in high school. I understood my body physically as an athlete.
517
518
I would always love to be an athlete, but it’s got to be a tough day when you have to hang up those cleats.
519
I’ve always looked at my career as an athlete would look at his. I won’t play forever. Some don’t know when to walk away, but the smart ones do.
520
I despise stereotypes. A gay man can be a macho athlete, or he can be an interior designer or any career in between.
521
522
523
When I was in high school I was a super serious athlete. I wasn’t fun at all.
524
On days when I do not work, I am working on my image. I have to hit the gym. I have beauty appointments. I have to work toward my next job and maintaining my image, just like an athlete.
525
526
I’m never going to be an athlete, never going to be running triathlons – I’m not that person.
527
You have to watch out because being an athlete and playing at the college level with the opportunity to go the NFL, you’re under the microscope and everybody’s watching. There are people that look up to us. So you have to watch out for what you do and who you’re around.
528
My father was just an amateur; my mother is not even an athlete herself.
529
I enjoy sports, and love being involved in any outdoor sport from volleyball to softball. I’m not being immodest when I say I’m a natural athlete.
530
Honestly, the only thing I loved when I was a kid was basketball. I was an athlete when I was a kid, and that was it.
531
I think being a rock star is a little bit different than being an athlete or even a movie star.
532
I was a big kid and a big athlete, but let’s be honest: I don’t know diddly about football.
533
If you got anything to you at all as an athlete and a competitor, you don’t care what the circumstances are. You still got competition.
534
With the responsibility of being a professional athlete, I believe that it is on us to go out there and help people.
535
A female professional athlete has to have the whole package, as opposed to a guy who can just be good at sport. You have to have a job or go to uni or do three sports instead of one, you have to be a standout.
536
My life was always different growing up. I mean, even before the show, my dad was who he is. He’s an Olympic athlete. And we were going to premieres, like ‘Finding Nemo’ premieres, and we would be little kids, like, before the show, walking down the red carpet.
537
538
Being a professional athlete, people respect the fact that I respect eSports professional gamers.
539
I’m an athlete in general.
540
541
Maybe I’m the kind of athlete who absorbs the atmosphere instead of trying to block it out.
542
I surfed until I was 18, and being the athlete that I am, I got really frustrated with how I wasn’t really getting any better.
543
I was a nerd academically. But I was also an athlete and a musician. I never wanted to be shut out of any situation. I think it was that more than anything.
544
I try not to be a typical athlete.
545
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547
548
People don’t think an athlete nowadays can have a team-first mentality and I do.
549
I think I’ve gotten more attention after the Olympics than any other U.S. athlete, and it’s really great that people are recognizing who I am and what I do. You look at Shaq and you see a basketball player. You look at Tiger Woods and you see a golfer. But people are responding to who I am.
550
I found it tough to follow an athlete’s lifestyle. But soon, it became a part of my life, and I embraced it.
551
As an athlete, I used my speed, agility and quickness to go out and play against the big guys.
552
As a child, I wanted to be an athlete, a professional tennis player or something like that.
553
Being at school, being who I am, being an athlete, it was hard to find people like me. There’s not many athletes that can be at my level. That was kind of hard finding people who love something so much they want to keep on doing it.
554
555
I realized I love motivating and I love empowering and I love inspiring people. I did that as an athlete for 18 years, and I am able to do that as a motivational speaker now as well as doing work on television.
556
I think I’m a born athlete. My coaches have told me my muscles and body structure are perfect for skating.
557
It’s in my blood to be an athlete, to be a hockey player.
558
559
I’m proud of the way I’ve dealt with setbacks. It’s hard when you feel down and you think, ‘Why is the world doing this to me?’ But you have to pick yourself up again. That’s what makes you a better athlete.
560
561
When I was running as an athlete, I’d be looking at my heart rate, monitoring when it started to peak, when it plateaued. I’d make a note of the oxygen debt in my body and would always be working to a specific time.
562
563
Of course I want to look well and fit – and as an athlete, I want to look strong.
564
My thing about looking good is that it should be the character. If I’m playing a character who’s concerned about his body – an athlete, say – I’ll get in shape. If I’m playing a character who doesn’t or wouldn’t, I don’t. I almost never get in shape for a movie, even though I know it would be a good career move.
565
566
567
I am not competing to be an athlete. I make music.
568
I’ve done whatever it takes to prove I am a clean athlete.
569
By being an athlete, I have uncovered so many other ways to express my beauty. Being a strong, fearless woman makes me feel beautiful. I love the way I look and feel when I am two hours into my training and my skin is glistening with sweat and my clothes are drenched because I have given it all I’ve got.
570
I’m not your average athlete. I’m good at other things. I’m not just a basketball player. I’m multi-talented.
571
Bobsledders are big athletes, and I’m a big athlete.
572
Since my sophomore year in high school, I knew I didn’t want to do anything but be a professional athlete. I knew when I got to college there was no way anybody was going to stop me from being an NFL player.
573
I loved DDT for the freedom; I was able to tell the wackiest and wildest of stories but also test myself as an athlete.
574
Whatever luck I had, I made. I was never a natural athlete, but I paid my dues in sweat and concentration and took the time necessary to learn karate and become world champion.
575
My biggest accomplishment has been making a transition from athlete to author.
576
I would have – I didn’t really have to be an athlete. I could have been, you know – worked in fast food, been a janitor, anything. I would have had two or three jobs, working long hours, you know, to support myself and for my family in the future. I would have been successful.
577
Even though I have bad qualities in my personal life, as an athlete, I can turn it on.
578
Shaquille O’Neal was probably my favorite athlete growing up. I loved how dominant and unstoppable he was, but also his charisma off the court. He was someone I gravitated toward.
579
580
You need just as much drive to be a good businessman as you do to excel as an athlete.
