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Olympic Games Quotes

Here is our collection of quotes about the Olympic Games and quotes by Olympic athletes.



“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 (primarily responsible for the revival of the Olympic Games in 1894)

"All I've done is run fast. I don't see why people should make much fuss about that."
- Fanny Blankers-Koen (Dutch sprinter who won four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics)

"The Olympic Games were created for the exhaltation of the individual athlete."
- Pierre de Coubertin

"The swimming and diving were held in part of the old moat ... it was the clammiest, darkest place and the water was frigid. "
- Alice Landon, American Diver, on facilities at the Antwerp Games of 1920

"One shouldn't be afraid to lose; this is sport. One day you win; another day you lose. Of course, everyone wants to be the best. This is normal. This is what sport is about. This is why I love it."
- Oksana Baiul, Olympic Gold Medalist

"The Olympics remain the most compelling search for excellence that exists in sport, and maybe in life itself."
- Dawn Fraser (Australian swimmer, 3-time winner at the Olympics)

"There can be distractions, but if you're isolated from the heart of the Games, the Olympics become just another competition."
- Mary Lou Retton (American gymnast, 1984 Summer Olympics)

"An Olympic medal is the greatest achievement and honor that can be received by an athlete. I would swap any World Title to have won gold at the Olympics."
- Jeff Fenech (Australian boxer, 1984 Summer Olympics)

"For athletes, the Olympics are the ultimate test of their worth."
- Mary Lou Retton (American gymnast, 1984 Summer Olympics)

"My will to live completely overcame my desire to win"
- Hungarian Alfred Hajos, winner of the first swimming gold medal.

"I Didn't Set Out to Beat the World; I Just Set Out to Do My Absolute Best."
- Al Oerter

"It has been said that the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games is something that an athlete will remember for the rest of their life. It is true. That moment when you walk into the Olympic Stadium as part of the Australian Olympic Team, is a moment that I will never forget."
- Jeff Fenech (Australian boxer)

"If you don't try to win you might as well hold the Olympics in somebody's back yard."
- Jesse Owens (American Athlete, 4 time Gold Medalist in Track and Field at the 1936 Olympic Games, 1913-1980)

"The greatest memory for me of the 1984 Olympics was not the individual honors, but standing on the podium with my teammates to receive our team gold medal."
- Mitch Gaylord

"I wanted no part of politics. And I wasn't in Berlin to compete against any one athlete. The purpose of the Olympics, anyway, was to do your best. As I'd learned long ago from Charles Riley, the only victory that counts is the one over yourself."
- Jesse Owens

"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

"At the Olympics, you there to do a job. I feel you should take it seriously. You should be respectful. You are putting on the red-white-and-blue and going out there to perform for your country. "
- Shannon Miller

"Everything about the Olympics was first class, and women were treated as athletes and equals."
- Elizabeth Robinson Schwartz

"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

"The Olympics are a wonderful metaphor for world cooperation, the kind of international competition that's wholesome and healthy, an interplay between countries that represents the best in all of us. "
- John Williams

"There is something in the Olympics, indefinable, springing from the soul, that must be preserved."
- Chris Brasher

"To anyone who has started out on a long campaign believing that the gold medal was destined for him, the feeling when, all of a sudden, the medal has gone somewhere else is quite indescribable."
- Sebastian Coe (English middle distance runner after losing the 800m final in 1980)

"It is the inspiration of the Olympic Games that drives people not only to compete but to improve, and to bring lasting spiritual and moral benefits to the athlete and inspiration to those lucky enough to witness the athletic dedication."
- Herb Elliott (Australian middle-distance Runner)

"I run to be known as the greatest runner, the greatest of all time. I could not eat or sleep for a week after I lost in the (1992) Olympics. I have to win or die."
- Noureddine Morceli (Algerian athlete from the 1996 Summer Olympics)

"The six colors, including the white background, represent the colors of all the world's flags ... this is a true international emblem."
- Pierre de Coubertin

"The Olympic Games are for the world and all nations must be admitted to them."
- Pierre de Coubertin

"Holding an Olympic Games means evoking history."
- Pierre de Coubertin

"The Olympic Games must not be an end in itself, they must be a means of creating a vast program of physical education and sports competitions for all young people."
- Avery Brundage (American sports Administrator and President of the (IOC))

"I touched the wall and all my dreams, hopes and ambitions basically coalesced into one moment"
Australian swimmer Duncan Armstrong on winning Olympic gold and setting a world record in Seoul 1988.



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