Athletic Diversity Quotes

You need to become more than one type of athlete. You have to be a sprinter, a weight man and a distance guy all in one.

When I came to the high-performance arena, I was kind of a one-off in a lot of ways. I was as much an iron man as much as I was a cricketer. Having surfed, fished, hunted, that was just a natural thing.

People think that coaches are always right, but it's difficult to teach a runner how to run, because every runner is different. You have to have an understanding of how to assist what that runner has, so they know how to assist what you have without taking away your special ability, because you're not like anybody else.

You name the sport, I've played it. I was quarterback for a football team one year, played volleyball, played softball - you name it.

David Epstein, the author of the best book on athletics in recent memory - "The Sports Gene" - wrote to me to say that he thinks I'm being overly generous. He points out that, for years, there used to be an "all-star challenge" on television, in which the best professional athletes from a variety of sports competed in a kind of makeshift decathlon.

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.

That's the beautiful thing about baseball. You can be any size and be successful.

Athletes can not look the same and be great in their individual sport. The example I like to use is Gabby Douglas. She could not flip in the air if she was built like me, but then Gabby Douglas couldn't throw the shot put. I was built like this because I was made to throw the shot put.

I played everything. I played lacrosse, baseball, hockey, soccer, track and field. I was a big believer that you played hockey in the winter and when the season was over you hung up your skates and you played something else.

I boxed. I did track and field; I did basketball, football, any sport I was able to sign up for.

Being a decathlete is like having ten girlfriends. You have to love them all, and you can't afford losing one.

Although the rugby league fraternity probably don't like it, the rugby union fraternity probably doesn't like it, it's cool for sportsmen, for young kids coming up, to know that there's not just that one door.

For athletes, it is unhealthy to be one-sport focused, especially at a young age. I believe in exposing kids to lots of activities - there are great advantages to being a well-rounded athlete and human, no matter the field of play.

There's not really much of an opportunity for a girl from Georgia like me or a girl like Aja (Evans) from Chicago to grow up bobsledding. I think it's great that we have such a diverse group.

When you look at the U.S., it's a little weird, man because we have so many other sports and other things that we can watch and support that it's hard to get the support of an entire country around you.

I love playing multiple sports. I grew up playing multiple sports.

We have to lie to ourselves as decathletes and say that we like all ten events.

I just think there's no reason to limit yourself to one sport.

I've always tried to be a complete athlete and not limit myself to one position or one sport. It really helped mold my whole football game.

I played football first. I love football. I'm a die-hard Broncos fan. I loved football, but in the offseason, I started playing basketball, and I just fell in love with the game. I've been playing basketball ever since 5th grade.

I love basketball. I love football. And to me, I think that's a dimension that you don't see with a lot of female leads, especially. I have a genuine love for it, and I always thought it was very interesting to show that side of me.

I'm not your typical quarterback. I don't like when people say, 'Quarterbacks aren't supposed to run,' or, 'Quarterbacks aren't supposed to work out a certain way.'

CrossFit is a very humbling sport and you can be really good at something and look like an idiot doing another movement. It's a nasty thing, but it makes it a little more fun.

Sometimes you have to resist working on your strengths in favour of your weaknesses. The decathlon requires a wide range of skills.