Sports Inclusion Quotes

First and foremost, I'm an athlete. And I'm an Olympian. I'm not a gay Olympian. I'm just an Olympian that's also gay. I don't mind reading that - like, 'gay Olympian Adam Rippon.' It's fine. I hope that, in a way, it makes it easier for other young kids who are gay. If they go to the Olympics, they can just be called Olympians.

Cricket is a sport girls can play and be successful in irrespective of their background.

It's 2018, and being an openly gay man and an athlete, that is part of the face of America now.

Having adaptive events televised in the X Games is huge. There are people out there who might want to do this but don't think they can. They can see us out here tearing it up. That's going to help people realize that if you want something bad enough, you can get there.

When no other schools in the Southeastern Conference or the former Southwestern Conference would award them athletic scholarships, African Americans had been recruited by and playing for Texas Western since the 1950s.

I have to give a lot of credit to David Stern to open up the league, but also in my case, Jerry West and Dr. Buss that had the vision of international guys making it to the NBA.

I have a great deal of respect for any women that will enter the world of little boys of sports.

There is no logical reason why girls shouldn't play baseball. It's not all that tough.

When I was a little kid, I don't remember looking up and seeing so many Hispanic athletes out there.

It is important for big names such as Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri to get on board and recognise that women do actually understand the game and they can play as well.

People like Ellie Simmonds, David Weir, and Hannah Cockroft have become superstars alongside the likes of Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis. I think it has changed attitudes to disability.

I want to be a great role model to let the kids, especially black kids, that it's possible to make it in this sport. I think we, as a black community, quit playing the game because we think it's a white man's sport. Or we think that since other black people don't play it, so why should I play it.

I've played for boys' teams.

There are not many athletes who are out. And I think it's something that's important. It felt important to me. I guess it seems like a weight off my shoulders, because I've been playing a lot better than I've ever played before. I think I'm just enjoying myself, and I'm happy.

There is talk that badminton may not make it as a sport in the 2020 Olympics. We must bear in mind that other sports are strongly lobbying to be included.

I think there's so many areas within the football game that women are being more involved in, and I think it's great to see.

I was gay before I began to play soccer over 40 years ago. It's been 28 years since a friend and I organized one of the first gay soccer teams in the world.

If I can play, and change the mind of one person about being a Muslim player and having a beard, then I'll feel as if I've done my job.

I fight for everybody, national and international, no matter where they are. I want to help those athletes. Not only those in the UFC - those that are in the big league and can have a better future - but those in the small promotions and need our help.

It means a lot to be accepted as an athlete as I have and I can be myself.

If I can learn how to pitch in two months, and I'm doing OK, how can we not assume that a woman who's been working on it for her entire life won't be playing in the MLB? It's ridiculous.

I want to see more girls coming in to the sport. There were actually a lot in Canada when I was riding there, but we can let girls know that they can be jockeys. And if they can't be jockeys, why can't they be owners or trainers? We need to invite girls in.

I grew up watching the Lakers and the Dodgers and the Rams, all local men's professional teams, and never really had any women that I grew up watching.

In the tennis world, there weren't a whole lot of Asians playing. You see it a little bit more now. The same can really be said for basketball.

Jeremy Lin is the only Asian American in the NBA today and one of the few in any professional U.S. sport. His arrival is surely leading other talented Asian American athletes this week to contemplate a pro career.