Apolo Ohno Quotes

In wrestling, there is no retreat. No way to slow things down. In wrestling, you advance and advance, and being tired is just a lie to make the other guy think he can relax. It's so hard - harder than anything I've ever done.

More than the time, it's about how you feel - you want to be strong throughout the race.

I don't have stamina in exercise... but I have it in life.

If you get into an armbar and someone locks it down on you, it's easy for you to tap out, but sometimes dealing with certain things, fighting through certain adversities, and being that I've been in some of the toughest situations in life, it just gives me an edge on my opponent that I'm going to torture him and beat him up.

It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired - you quit when the gorilla is tired.

Often I feel like I can run forever. If someone told me I had to run for 10 hours, I probably could.

What makes a really great fighter is a combination of ingredients: one is everything physical that you can do, and the other is what's mentally there for you. And I think that comes down to how big your heart is and what's driving you.

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they are gone, and so hold on when there is nothing in you except the will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

That is an important part of my success. Another big part of my success is that I hated not to finish a race.

You get yourself up for it somehow, and your endurance and the crowd gets you up, too.

Take the feeling of hunger out of your gut, and you're no longer a champion.

I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened.

He helps me every day to do my exercises. Siegfried told me once, 'The one who is a hero is the one who can hang on just one minute longer.'

The Finals are about a test of wills.

I'm interested in that thing that happens where there's a breaking point for some people and not for others. You go through such hardship, things that are almost impossibly difficult, and there's no sign that it's going to get any better, and that's the point when people quit. But some don't.

When I'm competing, I need to be strong.

Marathon running, for me, was the most controlled test of mettle that I could ever think of. It's you against Darwin.

As a decathlete, you take pride in saying, 'The elements, I'm not going to let them affect me. It's just the 11th event. Another thing you have to fight through.'

You can only do so much in the gym or pool. Seventy per cent of it is physical, but the final 30 per cent is down to the mental capacity to actually control what you can do in competition.

As tired as I am, I can always go another round, and I feel the other guy can't.

When it comes down to the last five minutes, it's not about Xs and Os. It's pretty much who wants it more.

The mental focus it takes to compete against the best players in the world is not easy to maintain. Developing mental toughness is a learned trait, and if you can't develop it in your pursuit of success, you likely won't last in any competitive line of work for more than a cup of coffee.

Just wanting to play, I think that's my biggest attribute, just wanting to play through whatever I have to in order to go out and compete.

I need that fear factor in training; otherwise, I might get beat by someone I should never lose against, all because I couldn't get up in the morning.

The thing that's so tough about 'Broken Skull Challenge' is you're going head-to-head with another human being who may or may not be stronger than you and may or may not want it more than you.