Johanna Konta Quotes

My brother was a big marathoner. He was a great collegiate runner at Beloit College. He won his conference's races, and he did tons of marathons. I would go out and run with him every once in a while just to hang out with him.

I started competing in cross-country when I was seven years old.

What does it prove, running in the AAU meet?

I grew up watching the Olympics and did some athletics for my school, winning the Welsh pentathlon championship.

Outside boxing, I did well in cross country competitions and I won a schoolboys' doubles badminton tournament at once. I was pleased because it was a hobby to me.

Prior to the 1976 Olympics, I was a 5,000m runner.

Hurdling, sprinting, athletics in general, is always in the back of your mind.

This is what I wanted. They tell me that London is the best field in history. I wanted to be part of that. Because everyone will be there it will be a wonderful challenge for me. You can see the best runners, how they look, how they run. For me to beat the best is what counts.

I was a runner, a failed quarterback, third-string quarterback, but in track I was a 2-miler.

Beating John Landy was my defining race.

I was playing rugby and the other games English school children do, and there was an event in which races were run, and I won these by a considerable margin.

We may train or peek for a certain race, but running is a lifetime sport.

You know the marathon in my country is just exceptional. It's like soccer in England. If England win the world cup and Ethiopia win the marathon - it's the same.

Fantastic, I am very happy to be the fastest 800 metres runner in the world.

I've run a lot of miles over the years, some fast and some not so fast. I've won some big races and I've had some big disappointments, but I enjoy the freedom of running and the challenge of training and competition as much now as when I first started back in high school.

Growing up as an athlete, I started skating very young. My parents didn't know anything about the sport, so they went with the flow. I had two great coaches who gave great advice and gave guidelines for my parents. My parents let the coaches dictate what was going on on the ice.

I tried to make the Olympics team in 1956.

Already in 2007 I thought I would be able to break the World record in the near future. That time Sammy Tangui was the pacemaker in Lausanne. I liked the way he was running. He is tall, he has a strong body and his stride is similar to mine. I told him in one of the coming years I would need him when I try to break the World record.

Rivalries don't necessarily mean races being close at major championships. I had a rivalry with Butch Reynolds for many years. I won all the races, but Butch was the world record holder before I came into the sport, he was extremely talented and he was the only other man running 43 seconds.

My coach told me if I broke the national record for the 200, I could run a 100.

My last real race was at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000.

Track and field is the best way to reach out for kids. It doesn't matter how fast you are. You always want to beat someone.

I won state cross-country competitions several times during high school.

Running for me is a sport. It's not a joke. It's serious.

I played football all my life throughout high school and ran track.