Sebastian Coe Quotes

One of the things I want ... all the kids here to remember, is that these [Major League Soccer] stars were not born superstar athletes ... Many of them started out just like many of you-playing on a team at school, or just kicking a ball around on the playground with their friends. But they stuck with it. And I tell this to my girls all the time. I mean, you get to the point when ... things you enjoy ... start getting hard-that's when you know you're getting good, and you have to stick through it.

Through everything I've gone through- and I've been everywhere, at the top of the world, in jail, hung over drunk - I never gave up my dream of winning a gold medal in the Olympics.

I started Little Athletics when I was five years old, but my Olympics dream started when I was 10 years old.

I worked my whole life and dreamed my whole life of being a professional athlete.

All athletes need three things: commitment, discipline and hard work. Without that it's hard to keep running.

The most important thing is to understand that this career is not about speed. It's about stamina. This is a marathon. It's not a 50-meter sprint. You have to persevere and understand it takes a lot of time. You have to know you're going to knock on 100 doors and 99 of them are going to close in your face.

I had a very ordinary background in Sheffield; I went to a secondary modern, but I saw something on TV in 1968 that inspired me to join an athletics club, and 12 years later, with great coaching and the support of people who loved me a lot, I ended up at an Olympic Games.

In fitness, there are no short cuts. It involves immense discipline and hard work.

When I was a junior and an up-and-coming athlete, I don't think I looked to anyone for inspiration. I was so busy trying to improve myself and learning these new events and learning about the decathlon in general that I didn't really have time to focus on anyone else.

I just keep working.

Doing as much as you can for as long as you can - that's the motto.

There's so much hard work, dedication, and focus goes in from not just the athletes but from the coaches, officials, governing bodies, and Sport Wales. It's a real team effort, and it's rightly called Team Wales.

It means a lot to be an Olympian. I'm obviously so grateful and feel so lucky I was able to achieve my dream of winning an Olympic gold medal.

I train my butt off every single day.

I am a dreamer. And what I dream of is to become Olympic champion, world champion, world record holder.

I will play until I can't play anymore.

Just being here at the Olympics is pretty incredible in itself. Seeing the unity of the athletes and to see how everyone has worked so hard to get here - and we are all so excited to be here - it's awesome to be able to experience it.

Naw, it - it never stops, man... You gotta be doing what you're supposed to be doing - whenever, however it's coming down, you know. If you're getting your butt kicked - you still gotta do what you gotta be doing.

My mom just brought me to the school of my coach. And I've trained with him my whole life. I started there, and it was totally natural for me. When I got to be 12 years old, I understood: it wasn't a job for me. It was my life.

After hours, I would train, train, train, six or seven days a week, until 2 or 3 in the morning sometimes.

It wasn't an easy journey to participating in the Olympics. It has taken me 14 years of training and hard work.

It had been a long journey for me just to get drafted. I had to work very hard as a collegiate player just to get recognized, being at a small school.

I probably train just as hard or harder as everybody.

I think people appreciate that I've been around so long, and I never gave up on myself and just kept grinding, and eventually I made it to the top.

The key to anyone's success is staying with it!