These Olympic quotes come from some of the greatest competitors in the history of the Olympic games. In this collection, you’ll find quotes about the Olympics Games, Olympic motivational quotes and reflections on the experience of winning an Olympic medal.
As each Olympic athlete would attest to, the Olympic games are the pinnacle of competition. Not surprisingly, this means training for the Olympic games is a full-time job which requires incredible discipline and strength.
“The key is not the will to win. Everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.” – Bob Knight (USA men’s basketball coach, Olympic gold medalist)
As Bob Knight explains, Olympic success is not just about having the will to win, it’s about having the will to prepare to win. Cultivating that will to prepare requires mental and physical training. We hope these Olympic quotes may play a small part in keeping hopeful athletes inspired and motivated.
Do you see any Olympic quotes we’ve missed? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. We’d love to hear from you!
Olympic Quotes About the Games
1) “Most other competitions are individual achievements, but the Olympic Games is something that belongs to everybody.” – Scott Hamilton (USA Figure Skating, Olympic gold medalist)
2) “The 2012 London Olympic Games fostered a generation of hope. I witnessed women participating for the very first time, representing every nation.” – Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA Track & Field, 6-time Olympic medalist)
3) “I think that’s the beauty of the Olympics. There’s always a story. There’s always someone you’re invested in. There are so many Olympic moments that resonate with people all across Canada, and I think that’s the beauty of it.” – Tessa Virtue (Canadian Figure skating, 2-time Olympic gold medalist)
4) “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.” – Pierre de Coubertin (founder of the modern Olympic Games)
5) “There is something in the Olympics, indefinable, springing from the soul, that must be preserved.” – Chris Brasher (USA Track & Field, Olympic gold medalist)
6) “The Olympic Games is holy. Athletes from around the world, including myself, of course, dream to participate.” – Yao Ming (Chinese Basketball, 3-time Olympian)
7) “Just as at the Olympic games it is not the handsomest or strongest men who are crowned with victory but the successful competitors, so in life it is those who act rightly who carry off all the prizes and rewards.” – Aristotle
8) “If you’re the Olympic champion then they have to wait four more years to get you again.” – Usain Bolt (Jamaican Sprinting, 8-time Olympic gold medalist)
9) “Training for the Olympics was a lifelong endeavor and took many years.” – Kristi Yamaguchi (USA Figure Skating, gold medalist)
10) “I love the Olympic Games. The Olympics are an event that few can fathom but all can enjoy, and that’s why athletes work our whole lives to put on the greatest show on Earth.” – Johnny Weir (USA Figure skating, 2-time Olympian)
11) “You feel the Olympics and you get chills and nervous and a little scared. You go through the emotional roller coaster at what it’s like to compete at the Olympic level and you let that run through your whole body.” – Bode Miller (USA Alpine Skiing, 6-time Olympic medalist)
12) “There’s something about an Olympic Games and representing Canada and being part of that greater team, so when we’re 70, we’ll be wanting to be Olympians still. That stays with you, I think.” – Tessa Virtue (Canadian Figure skating, 2-time Olympic gold medalist)
13) “The Olympics are a completely different beast. It’s the most magical moment of your career.” – Hilary Knight (USA Hockey, 3-time Olympic medalist)
Quotes About Training for the Olympic Games
14) “A lifetime of training for just ten seconds.” – Jesse Owens (USA Track & Field, 4-time Olympic gold medalist)
15) “If you fail to prepare, you’ve prepared to fail.” – Mark Spitz (USA Swimming, 9-time Olympic medalist)
16) “I am building a fire, and every day I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match.” – Mia Hamm (USA Soccer, Olympic gold medalist).
17) “The stopwatch doesn’t lie. The tape measure doesn’t lie.” – Daley Thompson (Great Britain Track & Field, 2-time Olympic gold medalist)
18) “We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.” – Jesse Owens, (USA track and field athlete, 4-time Olympic gold medalist)
19) “Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work. I had to put in the time to get back. And it was a grind. It meant training and sweating every day. But I was completely committed to working out to prove to myself that I still could do it.” – Andre Agassi (USA Tennis, Olympic gold medalist)
20) “Mentally, I have to get my body and mind in the right place before I start the routine, but once into the zone, it’s like I turn on a switch. I envision myself doing the same thing for the Olympic Games.” – Simone Biles (USA Gymnastics, 5-time Olympic medalist)
21) “In sport, if you want to be the best you have to compete against the best – I would much rather have come tenth and be judged against everyone than come first and be judged against just a few.” – Daley Thompson (Great Britain Track & Field, 2-time Olympic gold medalist)
22) “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali (USA boxing, Olympic gold medalist).
23) “There’s always a point where you get knocked down. But I draw on what I’ve learned on the track: If you work hard, things will work out.” – Lolo Jones (USA Summer & Winter Olympian)
24) “In baseball and in business, there are three types of people. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happened.” – Tommy Lasorda (USA Baseball Manager, Olympic gold medalist)
25) “I never had one day that I didn’t want to be on the ice, because I always had an objective for that day. I had a rigorous plan and schedule in place that I had to adhere to. It was a step-by-step process of slowly but surely inching toward the Olympic Games and using every day as a series of goals to be accomplished.” – Apolo Ohno (USA Speed skating, 8-time Olympic medalist)
26) “As simple as it sounds, we all must try to be the best person we can: by making the best choices, by making the most of the talents we’ve been given.” –Mary Lou Retton, Gymnastics (USA Gymnastics, 5-time Olympic medalist)
Olympic Quotes about Mindset
27) “If you don’t have confidence, you’ll always find a way not to win.” – Carl Lewis (USA Track & Field, 9-time Olympic gold medalist)
28) “You got to try and reach for the stars or try and achieve the unreachable.” – Cathy Freeman (Australia sprinting, Olympic gold medalist)
29) “The first thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else. It has to be yours.” – Peggy Fleming (USA Figure Skating, Olympic gold medalist)
30) “You have to beat the king to be the king. No one is going to hand you a gold medal.” – Donovan Bailey (Canadian sprinting, Olympic gold medalist)
31) “How you feel is entirely in your mind. Your mind has nothing to do with your environment. It has nothing to do with anyone around you. It is entirely your decision. Making a change in your life is as easy as making a decision and acting on it. That’s it.” – Ronda Rousey (USA Judo, Olympic Bronze medalist)
32) “Falling in life is inevitable – staying down is optional.” – Carrie Johnson (USA Sprint Canoe, Olympian)
33) “If you dream and allow yourself to dream, you can do anything.” – Clara Hughes (Canadian Summer and Winter Olympian, 6-time Olympic medalist)
34) “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” – Michael Phelps (USA Swimming, 28-time Olympic medalist including 23 Olympic gold medals)
35) “I don’t think I’m unbeatable, nobody is.” – Leisel Jones (Australia swimming, 9-time Olympic medalist)
36) “I know what I have to do, and I’m going to do whatever it takes. If I do it, I’ll come out a winner, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else does.” – Florence Griffith Joyner (USA Track & Field, 5-time Olympic medalist)
37) “This is my day. This is my purpose. I’m not afraid to win.” – Kayla Harrison (USA judo, 2-time Olympic gold medalist)
38) “I think it’s better to attempt something and fail than it is to not even attempt it, so I’m glad that I’ve been prepared to put myself on the line there.” – Ian Thorpe (Australia swimming, 5-time Olympic gold medalist)
39) “You have to believe in yourself when no one else does — that makes you a winner right there.” – Venus Williams (USA Tennis, 4-time Olympic gold medalist)
40) “If I wrestle the way I can, I won’t lose. That’s the way I feel going to London.” – Saori Yoshida (Japanese Wrestling, 3-time Olympic gold medalist)
41) “Without passion, you won’t do something 100 percent. That’s the bottom line.” – Apolo Ohno (USA Speed Skating, 8-time Olympic medalist)
Olympic Quotes about Achievement
42) “The feeling of accomplishment welled up inside of me, three Olympic gold medals. I knew that was something nobody could ever take away from me, ever.” – Wilma Rudolph (USA Sprinter, 4-time Olympic medalist)
43) “I touched the wall and all my dreams, hopes and ambitions basically coalesced into one moment.” -Duncan Armstrong (Australian swimming, Olympic gold medalist)
44) “My experience at the 1992 Winter Olympics was my fulfillment of dreaming the Impossible Dream.” -Kristi Yamaguchi (USA Figure skating, Olympic gold medalist)
45) “I didn’t set out to beat the world; I just set out to do my absolute best.” – Shaun White (USA Snowboarding, 3-time Olympic gold medalist)
46) “I still can’t believe I won the Olympics. That’s what I feel right now – completely alive as a human being. It’s a really beautiful moment.” – Clara Hughes (Canadian Summer and Winter Olympian, 6-time Olympic medalist)
47) “The only victory that counts is the one over yourself.” – Jesse Owens (USA Track & Field, 4-time Olympic gold medalist)
48) “My goals were last year to win the world champs and this year to win the Olympic Games and I’ve done that and I couldn’t be happier.” – Sally Pearson (Australian Track & Field, 2-time Olympic medalist)
49) “I was 12 when I started and 34 before I achieved my dream, that should give people hope.” – Kelly Holmes (Great Britain Track & Field, 2-time Olympic gold medalist)
50) “Winning doesn’t always mean being first. Winning means you’re doing better than you’ve ever done before.” – Bonnie Blair (USA Speed Skating, 5-time Olympic gold medalist)
51) “Acknowledge all of your small victories. They will eventually add up to something great.” – Kara Goucher (USA Track & Field, 2-time Olympian)
52) “For myself, losing is not coming second. It’s getting out of the water knowing you could have done better. For myself, I have won every race I’ve been in.” – Ian Thorpe (Australian swimming, 5-time Olympic gold medalist)
53) “It’s been a dream for me since I was six years old to go to the Olympic Games and to finally have that dream realised is something massive for me.” – Natalie du Toit (South African Swimming, Olympian, Paralympian gold medalist)
54) “My only focus was the Olympics because in my sport, that is the ultimate. Everything is geared toward that, and my entire life was geared around getting there and winning gold.” – Cammi Granato (USA Hockey, 2-time Olympic medalist)
55) “I feel like I’m living in a dream world and that at some point I will wake up and the last two weeks will have all been a figment of my imagination!” – Kate Richardson-Walsh (Great Britain field hockey, Olympic gold medalist)
Long-term Athlete Development
At Uplifter, we specialize in developing software for long-term athlete development tracking and club management. Using our customizable skill tracking system, coaches can easily record and analyze their athletes’ long-term skill development, including health and wellness goals. It’s our belief that athletes stay more engaged in their sport and excel faster when they can see what they’ve accomplished, along with clear next steps for their future development. We are constantly working to enhance our Uplifter software solutions so we can help further elevate the confidence and capabilities of today’s youth.
If you liked reading this collection of Olympic quotes, you may also enjoy our motivational quotes by female athletes.
